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Ace's Exambusters Earth Science/Geology Study Cards Click for details

Discovery of Extrasolar Planets

The Simon Schuster New Millennium Reference Desk CD-ROM Click for details

When a star swallows a planet

They add that many of them are doomed to be gobbled up by their parent stars.

Hubble Space Telescope astronomer Mario Livio detected evidence that some giant stars once possessed giant planets that have been swallowed up. The devouring stars radiate excessive amounts of infra-red light, spin rapidly, and contain a higher than expected amount of the element lithium.

About 8% of the stars in our galaxy display these characteristics, according to Dr Livio. This is consistent with estimates of close-orbiting giant planets.

An ageing solar-type star will expand to a red giant and in the process will engulf any close-orbiting planets. If the planets are like Jupiter they will have a profound effect on the red giant's evolution.

Buy this whole site for only $9.95!!!! Global Vision weaves together the biggest and smallest things in the universe into a complete and enthralling story, a concise reference book, a pocket encyclopedia and an introduction to basic science. It is simpler than this web site but written by the same author in the same easily understood style, making it essential reading for all children of the 21st century world (and their parents and grandparents). It has 128 pages and many black and white illustrations. It also includes a full index, a series of time lines and the complete text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Get your copy for US$9.95 (plus shipping).

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