
Astronomers have discovered a massive extrasolar planet, or "exoplanet," orbiting an ultracool dwarf star that is way too small to host such a world, challenging scientists' models of how planets and planetary systems are born.
The planet in question, designated LHS 3154 b, is 13 times as massive as Earth, meaning that it has a mass similar to the solar system ice giant Neptune, yet it closely orbits a tiny dwarf star, which is nine times less massive than the sun.