Spacecraft finds strange object in space

PARIS, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says the COROT spacecraft has discovered a massive planet-sized object that's unlike anything previously spotted.

The object, named COROT-exo-3b, is so exotic, ESA scientists said they are unsure whether the oddity is a planet or a failed star. The object is about the size of Jupiter but has more than 20 times the mass. It takes 4 days, 6 hours to orbit its parent star, which is slightly larger than the sun.

COROT, a mission led by the French space agency, was launched in 2006. It has the dual objectives of searching for extrasolar planets and performing astroseismology.

"COROT-exo-3b might turn out to be a rare object found by sheer luck", said Francois Bouchy of the French Institute of Astrophysics. "But it might just be a member of a new-found family of very massive planets that encircle stars more massive than our sun. We're now beginning to think that the more massive the star, the more massive the planet," he said.

The discovery by COROT -- COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits -- is to be reported in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.