A star ate a planet, and astronomers saw it happen for the first time

Washington Post - In a study released Wednesday in Nature, a team at MIT, Harvard University, Caltech and other institutions reported that they observed a planet, probably a hot Jupiter-size world, spiraling close to a dying star that was 1,000 times its size, until it was finally ingested into the star’s core . .  Many astronomers believe Earth will suffer a similar fate billions of years down the line, when our own evolving Sun will run out of fuel, balloon and consume its closest planetary neighbors. Humans likely won’t be around for this event, however, as our growing Sun will probably fry Earth first, making it inhospitable for life.