Planets can force host stars to act younger than their age, new Study finds

Researchers, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, have found that planets can force their host stars to act younger than their age. While the anti-aging property of some planets has been seen before, this may be the best evidence yet of this exotic phenomenon.

The new study, led by Nikoleta Ilic of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) in Germany looked at double-star or binary systems where the stars are widely separated but only one of them has a hot Jupiter orbiting it. For the unversed, hot Jupiters are gas giant exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) that orbit a star at Mercury's distance or closer.

Just like human twins, the stars in binary systems form at the same time. The team used the amount of X-rays to determine how young a star is acting. They studied almost three dozen systems in X-rays (the final sample contained 10 systems observed by Chandra and six by ESA's XMM-Newton, with several observed by both), looking for evidence of planet-to-star influence.

The team found that the stars with hot Jupiters tended to be brighter in X-rays and therefore more active than their companion stars without hot Jupiters.

"In previous cases, there were some very intriguing hints, but now we finally have statistical evidence that some planets are indeed influencing their stars and keeping them acting young. Hopefully, future studies will help to uncover more systems to better understand this effect," said co-author Marzieh Hosseini, also of AIP.

What helps keep a star acting young?🌟New research shows it might be a hot Jupiter! Young stars put out more X-rays. Researchers observed more of this activity in stars with a nearby exoplanet. This may be the best evidence yet of this anti-aging effect. https://t.co/YHR8pjjOjy pic.twitter.com/61SyQFemod

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) November 2, 2022

Their findings were published in the July 2022 issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.