Astronomers discover a giant planet spinning up its star

(Phys.org)—A giant "hot Jupiter" exoplanet has recently been detected by an international team of astronomers led by Kaloyan Penev of Princeton University. The newly found alien world, designated HATS-18b, is an interesting case of a planet tidally spinning up its parent star. Moreover, this planetary system could be a great laboratory for researchers when it comes to testing theories of planet–star interactions. The new findings were presented in a paper published online on June 2 o