Planets’ Anti-Aging Effect

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach in collaboration with NASA’s Universe of Learning partners: Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

Video imagery:

·       Illustration of a binary star system including a hot Jupiter-type exoplanet: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

Writer: Leah Ramsay

Designer: Leah Hustak, Joseph Olmsted

Science review: Dr. Brandon Lawton

Education review: Jim Manning

Music from Music for Non-Profits

(SPEECH)

[COSMIC MUSIC]

 

(DESCRIPTION)

Text, News From The Universe.

 

November 8, 2022. Planets' Anti-Aging Effect.

 

With a large sample of star systems, scientists have confirmed that "hot Jupiter" planets can make their host stars look younger.

 

Exoplanets known as hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit very close to their host star.

 

Because of their high mass, hot Jupiter planets can have a strong gravitational effect on their stars, causing them to spin more quickly.

 

Scientists detect the stars' rapid rotation as more X-rays, something that is associated with young stars.

 

(SPEECH)

 

(DESCRIPTION)

This news was brought to you in part by the Chandra X-Ray Center in Cambridge, MA.