Frigid alien planet may offer a glimpse at Earth's distant future

WASHINGTON — The first rocky planet ever spotted orbiting a burned out star called a white dwarf offers a glimpse of what may be in store for Earth billions of years from now -- showing it is possible our planet might survive the death of the sun, albeit as a cold and desolate outpost in space. The planet, with a mass about 1.9 times that of Earth, is orbiting the white dwarf about 4,200 light-years away from our solar system near the bulge at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a study using data from Hawaii-based telescopes.