Extrasolar Planets: Giant Stars Break the Rules!

Crimson · #1 (**permalink**) 13-September-2005, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Giant stars with planets often have smaller amounts of heavy elements than the Sun, say astronomers in the United States and Germany. This trend is surprising: it is opposite the one seen in planet-bearing main-sequence stars and suggests stars more massive than the Sun may give birth to planets in a different way.

Astronomers discovered the first extrasolar planet around a Sun-like star, 51 Pegasi, ten years ago. From the first, they noticed most planet-bearing stars are quite metal-rich, containing large quantities of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. For example, 51 Pegasi's metallicity is 60 percent greater than the Sun's. This trend makes sense: planets have metals, so they form most easily around metal-rich stars.

Now, however, Simon Schuler of Clemson University and his colleagues say giant stars obey a different rule.

Maddad · #2 (**permalink**) 14-September-2005, 05:22 PM

I am suspicious of the implied trend since we only see the extrasolar planets that our insturmentation is capable of detecting. It may not be the same trend as the actual planets in the area.

Vhear · #3 (**permalink**) 14-September-2005, 05:28 PM

We don't have enough info. to say whats the norm and what isn't. An example is when we started looking for planets around other stars, we thought that our system was the norm and the other ones are not. Now we're thinking that those systems are a norm and our system configuration is rare.

Dont' make conclusion unless you have all the info. or enough of it.

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