Ageing stars may be destroying their closest planets Ageing stars may be destroying the giant planets orbiting closest to them, according to a new study by astronomers at UCL and the University of Warwick.

Ageing stars are surprisingly efficient at destroying the giant planets orbiting closest to them, suggests a new study by Dr Edward Bryant @embryantastro.bsky.social and Dr Vincent Van Eylen @uclmaps.bsky.social looking at nearly half a million post-main sequence stars using NASA's TESS satellite

A study led by CPS colleagues Dr Ed Bryant (now @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social) and Associate Professor in Exoplanets, Dr Vincent Van Eylen at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory @uclmaps.bsky.social ☀️🪐

Determining the impact of post-main-sequence stellar evolution on the transiting giant planet population ABSTRACT. The post-main-sequence evolution of stars is expected to impact the exoplanets residing on close-in orbits around them. Using photometric data fr

The paper is open access for all to read and can be found here - doi.org/10.1093/mnra...

The ageing of host stars can be catastrophic for planets!

Our new research into this planet population shows that the evolution of stars causes giant planets to spiral into their host stars and be destroyed.

Check out the press release below and paper (published in MNRAS today!) for more