Science
Young Stars Lose Their X-ray Brightness Much Faster Than Scientists Expected
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found that young stars fade in X-ray energy far more quickly than models predicted, changing what scientists know about early star behaviour.
27 yearsChandra has been collecting X-ray data from space since 1999, nearly 27 years of observations
The facts
- 1NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected that young stars dim in X-ray light surprisingly fast — within just a few million years of forming.
- 2Young stars are powerful sources of X-ray radiation, which can affect the atmospheres and development of any nearby planets forming around them.
- 3Previous scientific models predicted that X-ray dimming in young stars would happen gradually over tens of millions of years, not as quickly as Chandra observed.
- 4X-ray energy from a young star can strip away gases from orbiting planets, so faster dimming could mean those planets keep more of their atmosphere than expected.
- 5Chandra has been studying X-ray sources in space since 1999 and is one of NASA's four Great Observatories still in operation.
Why it matters
How much X-ray radiation a young star releases controls whether nearby planets can hold onto their atmospheres. If stars dim faster than thought, planets around them may survive with thicker atmospheres — which matters for understanding where life could exist. This finding may lead scientists to update how they model young solar systems across the galaxy.
Sources
- NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory
- NASA Science News
