Astronomers have discovered a new phenomenon where an exoplanet is so close to its star that it triggers massive flares and ultimately destroys itself. The clingy planet, HIP 67522 b, orbits a young, 17 million-year-old star at an alarming distance, causing the star to burst with energy.
Research team leader Ekaterina Ilin said, “We hadn’t seen any systems like this before; when the planet was found, it was the youngest planet known to be orbiting its host star in less than 10 days.” The team used NASA’s TESS spacecraft to survey flaring stars and discovered HIP 67522 while analyzing its characteristics.
Further investigation with the European Space Agency’s Cheops mission revealed that the stellar flares occur when the planet transits in front of the star, triggering an energetic response. The waves generated by the planet exert a magnetic influence on the star, causing massive flares to erupt.
These induced flares bombard HIP 67522 b with around six times the radiation it would normally experience, stripping away its wispy outer layers and causing it to lose mass over time. In about 100 million years, the planet is expected to shrink from the size of Jupiter to that of Neptune.
Ilin emphasized the importance of further research, stating, “There are two things I think are most important to do now: follow up in different wavelengths to find out what kind of energy is being released in these flares and study other similar star-planet systems.” The team’s findings were published in the journal Nature.
Source: https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/exoplanets-that-cling-too-tightly-to-their-stars-trigger-their-own-doom-this-is-a-completely-new-phenomenon