Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars

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Cite

Xin, L. (2026, October 28). Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3372402/chinese-astronomers-find-planets-somehow-avoided-death-red-giant-stars

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South China Morning Post · collected 2026-10-28 · by Ling Xin

Quick Summary

Chinese astronomers using NASA's TESS telescope discovered three solar systems where Jupiter-like planets survived as their stars expanded into red giants, a stage when such planets are typically consumed. This finding suggests that the long-term fate of Earth and other planets in similar circumstances may be more complex than previously thought. Qian Shengbang from Yunnan University led the research which identified these unexpected survivors orbiting aged stars in the northern sky.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-28, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Chinese astronomers, using NASA's TESS space telescope, discovered three Jupiter-sized planets orbiting aging stars in the northern sky. These planets managed to survive as their host stars expanded into red giants and then contracted, despite predictions that they would be engulfed by their stars. The findings were led by Qian Shengbang from Yunnan University and suggest that the long-term fate of planetary systems, including our own solar system, may be more complex than previously thought. When a star like the sun ages, it expands into a red giant, often consuming nearby planets. However, these surviving planets challenge existing theories about how stellar evolution impacts planetary survival.

Written for “Planets Avoid Death By Red Giants” on 2026-10-28, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Planets Avoid Death By Red Giants
Science · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
3
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
67%
2 of 3 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Science
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3272 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Ling Xin
14 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars Study suggests the long-term fate of the solar system, including Earth, ‘may be far more complicated than predicted’, according to scientist When a star like our sun grows old, it puffs up into a red giant that can gobble up its nearest planets.
2026-10-28 · speculative framing · Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars
🔮 At the ceremony, Qian said he would also work on “virtual cells” – computer models that mimic real cells so scientists can test how they might respond to drugs or disease without lab experiments.
2026-10-18 · mixed framing · Qian Jiang, former Johns Hopkins’ eye institute expert, joins hospital in China
🔮 China-US astronomy team may have found possible relic of a recent ‘gold factory’ Mystery glow seen in the Milky Way could be the result of a violent collision between two orbiting neutron stars, according to scientists The violent smash spewed out atoms and a flood of neutrons, which the atoms soaked up to form some of the universe’s heaviest elements, such as gold, platinum and uranium, while the wreckage collapsed into a black hole.
2026-10-13 · mixed framing · China-US astronomy team may have found possible relic of a recent ‘gold factory’
🔮 According to the latest papers, the Beijing scientists also showed that two crystals grown separately kept the same time – a sign such clocks could be reliably reproduced, they said.
2026-10-07 · mixed framing · China’s thorium-229 nuclear clock beats Vienna’s on stability, studies show
🔮 David vs Goliaths: Singapore builds most accurate clock ever, leaves US and China in dust The decade-long project could help to pave the way for a redefinition of the second, researchers claim in a new paper The clock, built with a single ion of a rare earth metal element known as lutetium, is so precise that it would lose one second every 260 billion years – nearly 20 times the age of our universe.
2026-10-02 · mixed framing · David vs Goliaths: Singapore builds most accurate clock ever, leaves US and China in dust
🔮 Claims China’s BeiDou satellite was refuelled in orbit could change space race
2026-09-26 · mixed framing · Claims China’s BeiDou satellite was refuelled in orbit could change space race
🔮 That made it impossible for ground controllers to intervene in real time, wrote researchers from the China Academy of Space Technology – the country’s main spacecraft manufacturer – in a paper that will be published in the Journal of Deep Space Exploration.
2026-09-21 · assertive framing · China gets closer to Jupiter mission by bringing Nasa’s StarNAV concept to life
🔮 China uses 100,000 home-grown AI chips to build leading weather forecast system The Sugon 8,000 system can predict weather 10 days in advance, bringing the country closer to its ambitious forecasting goals China said it can now predict weather 10 days in advance at a cutting-edge resolution of 5km (3.1 miles), finer than most major systems in routine use around the world.
2026-09-16 · mixed framing · China uses 100,000 home-grown AI chips to build leading weather forecast system
🔮 The project will involve partners from at least five other countries as they track the development of space weather China has started an international project to build a three-dimensional satellite network between Earth and the moon that will track solar activity and study some of the universe’s most powerful explosions.
2026-09-05 · assertive framing · China launches plan for 3D satellite network to monitor sun and cosmic explosions
Also by Ling Xin
Chinese scientists create powerful catalyst to turn air on Mars into rocket fuel
2026-10-27 · South China Morning Post
US prize-winning cancer scientist Wan Fengyi joins China’s Zhejiang University
2026-10-19 · South China Morning Post
Qian Jiang, former Johns Hopkins’ eye institute expert, joins hospital in China
2026-10-18 · South China Morning Post
New details emerge in US investigations of Chinese-American scientists over China links
2026-10-16 · South China Morning Post
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Ling Xin →

Topics

Chinese Nasa TESS Yunnan University

Subjects

Chinese NORP · 2× Nasa ORG · 1× Qian Shengbang PERSON · 1× Yunnan University ORG · 1×

Narrative

Using Nasa’s TESS space telescope, a team led by Qian Shengbang from Yunnan University showed that three Jupiter-like planets – each hugging an ageing star in the northern sky – had lived through their hosts ballooning out past them before shrinking back.
framing: speculative · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-28
🔮 Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars Study suggests the long-term fate of the solar system, including Earth, ‘may be far more complicated than predicted’, according to scientist When a star like our sun grows old, it puffs up into a red giant that can gobble up its nearest planets.
2026-10-28 · South China Morning Post
Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars · speculative framing

Claims (3 extracted, 2 hedged)

Chinese astronomers find planets that somehow avoided death by red giant stars Study suggests the long-term fate of the solar system, including Earth, ‘may be far more complicated than predicted’, according to scientist When a star like our sun grows old, it puffs up into a red giant that can gobble up its nearest planets. uncertain
that → find → planets
But Chinese astronomers say they have found three solar systems where planets should have been eaten this way yet somehow survived – a puzzle that could change how scientists picture Earth’s distant future. uncertain
scientists → say → future
Using Nasa’s TESS space telescope, a team led by Qian Shengbang from Yunnan University showed that three Jupiter-like planets – each hugging an ageing star in the northern sky – had lived through their hosts ballooning out past them before shrinking back. asserted
hosts → use → them
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