Stellar lithium deficiency linked to planet formation
Posted: Thu, Nov 12, 2009, 7:24 AM ET (1224 GMT)
A deficiency of lithium in a star's atmosphere may be a sign of the presence of planets, astronomers reported this week. In a paper in the journal Nature, astronomers surveyed 30 Sun-like stars known to have planets and found nearly all had unusually low levels of lithium, just as the Sun does. Astronomers speculate that the presence of planets robs the stars of angular momentum, causing them to spin more slowly; this, in turn, causes the lithium in the atmospheres to fall to the surface and be destroyed.
A deficiency of lithium in a star's atmosphere may be a sign of the presence of planets, astronomers reported this week. In a paper in the journal Nature, astronomers surveyed 30 Sun-like stars known to have planets and found nearly all had unusually low levels of lithium, just as the Sun does. Astronomers speculate that the presence of planets robs the stars of angular momentum, causing them to spin more slowly; this, in turn, causes the lithium in the atmospheres to fall to the surface and be destroyed.
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