Italian astronomers have detected a planet that survived the red giant expansion of its home star. The researchers say that the discovery could be a sneak peek at the fate that awaits the Earth, some four or five billion years from now.
The surviving planet was discovered by an international team of more than twenty astronomers, headed by Roberto Silvotti, researcher at the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte.
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/12/red_giant_planet/