Christopher Manser

I am a PostDoc working with Boris Gänsicke in the Astronomy and Astrophysics group. My research focuses on the study of remnant planetary systems around white dwarfs, which are left over from the main sequence lifetime of the white dwarf. These systems can be used to investigate the bulk composition of exo-planetary material as well as answer questions such as - "What will happen to our Solar System when the Sun runs out of fuel?". Recently I have been investigating a subset of these systems which host a gaseous disc in addition to a dust disc and metal pollution of the white dwarf atmosphere. The gaseous discs are indicators of dynamic activity in the disc and can be used to better understand these complex systems.

Impact

What actually happens when the sun dies?