Recently-Discovered Exoplanet Triggers Flares on Its Parent Star
The Hot-Jupiter Exoplanet Hip 67522B orbit its parent star, Hip 67522, so closely that it seems to cause frequent eruptions of the surface of the star, heat and influence the atmosphere of the planet, according to an analysis of the data from the NASA transitting satellite exoplanet (tess) and ESA characterized exoplanets teleslope (Cheops).
The impression of an artist of the young planetary system hip 67522. Image credit: J. Fohlmeister, AIP.
The hip 67522 is a G0 type star located about 417 light years in the Constellation Centaurus.
Otherwise known as HD 120411, 2Mass J13500627-4050090 and TYC 7794-2268-1, The Star is a member of the Scorpius-Centaurus Stellar Association.
The hip 67522 has around 17 million years and welcomes two young exoplanets.
The interior planet, hip 67522b, orbit once every 7 days and is about 10 times the diameter of the earth, or near that of Jupiter.
Using five years of data from Tess NASA and ESA Cheops telescopes, astronomer Astron Ekaterina Ilin and his colleagues have more closely examined the HIP 67522 system.
They found that the planet and its host star form a powerful but probably destructive link.
In a way that is not yet fully understood, the planet clings to the magnetic field of the star, triggering lighting rockets on the surface of the star; The energy of the cervical boost on the planet.
Combined with other high -energy radiation from the star, heating induced by thrusts seems to have increased the already steep inflation of the planet’s atmosphere.
This could well mean that the planet will not stay in the Jupiter size range for a long time.
An effect of being continuously struck by intense radiation could be a loss of atmosphere over time.
In 100 million years, this could reduce the planet to the status of a hot neptune, or, with a more radical loss of atmosphere, even a sub-neptune, a type of planet smaller than Neptune which is common in our galaxy but which is lacking in our solar system.
“We found the first clear proof of the flared interaction of the star-planet, where a planet triggers energetic eruptions on its host star,” said Dr. Ilin, the first author of an article published in the journal Nature.
“What is particularly exciting is that this interaction has persisted for at least three years, which allows us to study it in detail.”
“This type of Star-Planet interaction has been expected for a long time, but obtaining observation evidence was only possible with this large set of space telescope data,” said Dr. Katja Poppenhäger, an astronomer with Leibniz-Institut Für Astrophysik Potsdam and the University Potsdam.
“The planet essentially submits to an intense bombardment of radiation and particles of these induced light rockets,” said Dr. Harish Vedantham, astronomer at Astron.
“This self-inflicted space is probably inflating the atmosphere of the planet and can significantly accelerate the rhythm to which the planet loses its atmosphere.”
In an accompanying article in the newspaper Astronomy and astrophysicsAstronomers confirm that HIP 67522 is a magnetically active star with a strong radio wave emission fueled by its magnetic field.
They observed the star at low radio frequencies for about 135 hours with the compact network in the Australian telescope (ACCA), revealing it as a brilliant and radio wave source.
At the same time, they found no signs of lighting rockets with radio waves which could be attributed to the interaction of the star with the planet.
“The non-detection is compatible with the expectations that the light rockets induced by the planet are too weak to be detected by ATCA, in accordance with the conclusion by the journal of the nature of the magnetic star-planet interaction, resulting in a lake activity,” they said.
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Ekaterina Ilin and al. The near planet induces lighting rockets on its host star. Naturepublished online on July 2, 2025; DOI: 10.1038 / S41586-025-09236-Z
Ekaterina Ilin and al. 2025. Radio signal search induced by the planet of the young star of the host of the near Hip 67522 planet. A&Ain press; DOI: 10.1051 / 0004-6361 / 202554684
