Kepler telescope finds mystery objects

NASA’s new planet-hunting telescope has found two mystery objects that are too hot to be planets and too small to be stars.

The Kepler Telescope, launched in March, discovered the two new heavenly bodies, each circling its own star. Telescope chief scientist Bill Borucki of NASA said the objects were thousands of degrees hotter than the stars they circled.

That meant they probably were not planets. They were bigger and hotter than planets in our solar system, including dwarf planets.

The new discoveries don’t quite fit into any definition of known astronomical objects, and so far don’t have a classification of their own.

For now, NASA researcher Jason Rowe, who found the objects, said he called them “hot companions.”

How hot? Try 26,000 degrees Fahrenheit (14,425 Celsius). That is hot enough to melt lead or iron. — AP