About 4 to 8 percent of the stars in our galaxy display these characteristics, according to Livio and Siess. This is consistent with estimates of close orbiting giant planets, based on discoveries of extrasolar planets by radial velocity observations, which measure the amount of wobble in a star due to the gravitational tug of an unseen companion. If the planets are the mass of Jupiter, or greater, they will have a profound effect on the red giant's evolution. First, according to Livio's calculations, such a star is bigger and brighter because it absorbs gravitational energy from the orbiting companion. This heats the star so that it puffs off expanding shells of dust, which radiate excessive amounts of infrared light.
Giant planets carry the lion's share of angular momentum in a stellar system.
For example, Jupiter and Saturn contain 98 percent of the angular momentum in the solar system. Finally, a chemical tracer is the element lithium, which is normally destroyed inside stars. A newly devoured Jovian planet would provide a fresh supply of lithium to the star, and this shows up as an anomalous excess in the star's spectrum. In our solar system Jupiter is too far from the Sun to be swallowed up when the Sun expands to a red giant in about 5 billion years. However, detections of extrasolar planets do show that Jupiter-sized planets can orbit unexpectedly close to their parent stars.