Overview
- The study searched 456,941 stars that had just left the main sequence, focusing on giants with orbits of 12 days or less using TESS transit data.
- Researchers identified 130 planets and planet candidates, including 33 newly detected objects, after vetting more than 15,000 initial signals.
- The measured occurrence of short‑period giant planets was 0.28% overall, dropping from about 0.35% in the youngest post‑main‑sequence stars to 0.11% for early red giants.
- The findings are consistent with tidal interactions that accelerate orbital decay as stars expand, causing nearby giant planets to spiral inward and be engulfed.
- Confirmation of individual objects awaits mass measurements to rule out stellar or brown‑dwarf impostors, following publication of the results in MNRAS on October 15, 2025.