Although such flares would be fatal in today's solar system, astronomers think they actually sustain the survival of newborn planets elsewhere by keeping them from spiraling into their parent stars. (sciencemag.org)
Newborn planets in other solar systems endure «catastrophic» collisions for hundreds of millions of years, according to a new astronomical survey of nearby stars. (sciencemag.org)
The group's youth and proximity make the stars «fantastically suitable for direct searches for warm newborn planets,» says astronomer Ray Jayawardhana of UC Berkeley, because such planets would shine brightly in infrared light. (sciencemag.org)