NASA's TESS may have misidentified many exoplanets: Study
A new study suggests that many planets spotted by NASA's TESS might actually be bigger than first believed.
It turns out, light from nearby stars made these worlds look smaller in earlier data.
By using updated measurements from the Gaia mission, scientists got a clearer picture of their true size.
Some planets once labeled as Earth-like are now too big
Researchers found that some planets once labeled as Earth-like are now too big to fit that category.
After correcting the data, even the three best candidates for rocky, Earth-sized worlds turned out larger than expected.
Fewer real Earth-size candidates to study
Most of these bigger planets are probably ocean worlds or gas giants—not rocky places like our own planet.
This means there are fewer real Earth-size candidates to study and could shift how astronomers hunt for habitable worlds in the future.