Planets form around a star from what is known as an accretion disk, made of gas and dust. These younger, cooler stars are however in danger of having their nascent planets boiled off if they happen to be too close – less than about 1.6 light-years – to an older, hotter star. These new findings from a team using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope will allow scientist to determine which stars are more likely to have a planetary system with rocky planets such as Earth and refine the search for extra-terrestrial life.

Astronomers have laid down the cosmic equivalent of yellow “caution” tape around super hot stars, marking the zones where cooler stars are in danger of having their developing planets blasted away.

Source: PhysOrg.com