Uh oh! A quarter of Sun-like stars probably gobble up planets

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-08-31 01:00

Australia; International; VIC; ACT

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International scientists, including Australians, say around a quarter of stars similar to our own Sun are probably engulfing planets from their solar systems. But don't worry too much, because they are talking about binary star systems, with two Sun-like stars, rather than our own, mercifully calm, solar system. The scientists' interest was piqued by the fact that the two stars in binary systems can be quite different in composition, so they set out to establish whether this was due to differences when the stars were born, or because one or other of the stars had been gobbling up planets during its life. Their research suggests the latter is true, and that there's a 20 - 35 per cent chance a Sun-like star will chomp down on a local planet. They say their findings could make it easier to identify habitable solar systems by looking at the composition of their stars.