Planetary Engulfment

   In the universe, planets accompany host stars (like the Sun is the host star for the planets of the Solar system).

  As the host star evolves off the main sequence to become a white dwarf, the planets with sufficiently close orbits can be engulfed during the giant phase.

  Planetary engulfment events involve the chemical assimilation of a planet into a star's external layer.

  This can cause a change in the chemical pattern of the stellar atmosphere in a way that mirrors the composition of the rocky object engulfed.