Aging Sun-like stars are destroying close planets, offering clues to Earth’s fate billions of years from now.
Observations show aging stars expanding and pulling nearby planets toward destruction
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Astronomers scrutinizing distant sunlike stars have identified telltale signs that the aging stars gradually consume their closest planets, a preview of what could happen to Earth billions of years from now. As the hydrogen fuel burns off, they swell to become giants that can consume neighbouring worlds. Although the Sun has a ways to travel before it becomes that, observations reveal that such stars elsewhere are already devouring their planets. The results also indicate that planetary systems aren’t stable forever, and the aging of stars can determine whether worlds survive intact or are obliterated.
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According to a report originally published by Eos and later featured on Space.com, researchers analysed data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to compare young, middle-aged, and aging stars. Older stars host fewer planets, indicating widespread planetary destruction long-term.
Studying 457,000 stars, researchers found 130 close planets, showing expansion creates tidal forces shrinking orbits, stripping atmospheres, and destroying worlds.
Aging Sun-Like Stars Offer Clues to the Solar System’s Distant Future
It is still difficult to detect planets around aging stars, the researchers noted, because larger stars create weaker transit signals when planets pass in front of them. But the stars studied here are roughly in mass like the Sun, so they should have a similar life cycle. This likeness enables astronomers to treat distant systems as realistic previews of our solar system’s future.
Independent experts mentioned the approach looked promising and noted that previous studies had failed to find enough data to show clear patterns. Upcoming missions, such as the European Space Agency’s Plato mission, should further refine measurements of stellar composition and planets’ movements to determine planets actively spiralling toward destruction.
