Astronomers from UCL and the University of Warwick have made a fascinating discovery about the fate of planets orbiting aging stars. According to a study published on ScienceDaily, these stars, as they exhaust their hydrogen fuel, expand and cool into red giants, potentially engulfing the giant planets closest to them.
This process, expected to occur to our Sun in about five billion years, has led researchers to investigate the presence of planets around 130 stars that have reached this stage. The findings indicate that planets are less common around stars that have fully transformed into red giants. The destruction of these planets occurs through tidal interaction, a gravitational struggle that intensifies as the star grows.
Dr. Bryant explains that this interaction slows down the planet, causing its orbit to shrink until it spirals inward and either breaks apart or falls into the star. The implications of this discovery are intriguing, with co-author Dr. Vincent Van Eylen questioning whether the planets in our own solar system will survive when the Sun becomes a red giant.
The study's findings suggest that, in some cases, planets may not be so fortunate. The research team identified 33 new planet candidates, bringing the total to 130, and provided new insights into the efficiency of stars in engulfing their close planets.
A new study from astronomers at UCL (University College London) and the University of Warwick suggests that aging stars may be destroying the giant ...Here's one of the sources related to this article: See here
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