Three celestial bodies known as exoplanets may actually be stars

As part of a study on exoplanets outside our solar system, researchers report that three celestial bodies that were previously classified as planets were misclassified. According to the information announced, it is stated that these three celestial bodies are more likely to be small stars.

‘Small fix’

Nearly 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered so far, and there are just as many unconfirmed exoplanet candidates. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) state that at least three of these exoplanets are more likely to actually be stars.

Scientists working on Kepler-854b, Kepler-840b and Kepler-699b celestial bodies discovered thanks to the Kepler Space Telescope, double-checked the sizes of these three objects with updated measurement techniques. The research team revealed that three celestial bodies are larger than the largest confirmed planets so far. Celestial bodies are estimated to be 2-4 times the size of Jupiter.

Kepler-747b, which caught the attention of researchers, is about 1.8 times the size of Jupiter. Although it is comparable in size to the planets confirmed so far, Kepler-747b is located too far from its star, so the amount of light it receives is said to be too small to sustain a planet of this size.

MIT researchers They speculate that of those surveying more than 2,000 exoplanets, only Kepler-854b, Kepler-840b, and Kepler-699b were misclassified, and possibly Kepler-747b. The researchers note that this is only a minor correction and further misclassifications are not expected.