Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
182,460 studies31 sourcesUpdated 37 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astronomical Journal

Rescuing Kepler’s False Positives: A Possible Habitable Zone Exoplanet in the Triple-star System KOI-1623

  • Rita Lanxuan 兰萱 Wang 王1
  • Daniel Huber1
  • Daniel Hey1
  • Nathanael Burns-Watson2
  • Alexander Larsen2
  • Adam Kraus2
  • Trent J. Dupuy3
  • Steven Giacalone4
  • Justin R. Crepp5
5 affiliations
  1. 1University of Hawai‘i
  2. 2University of Texas at Austin
  3. 3University of Edinburgh
  4. 4California Institute of Technology
  5. 5University of Notre Dame
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

The Kepler mission has significantly advanced our understanding of exoplanet demographics. However, Kepler planet candidates showing centroid shifts are often classified as false positives and thus excluded from demographic analyses. Some of these systems may be erroneous false positives, resulting from unresolved binary stars with planets orbiting one of the stars, thereby introducing biases into past exoplanet demographic studies. Here, we present updated Kepler centroid offset values derived from Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) and analyze KOI-1623.01, a Kepler centroid offset false positive with a clear transit signal and an orbital period of 111 days. High-contrast imaging with Keck/NIRC2 reveals that KOI-1623A has a close companion with a separation of 0 . ″ 704 ± 0 . ″ 002 , consisting of a slightly evolved G-type primary and a K dwarf secondary, while Gaia detects a tertiary companion with common proper motion at a separation of ∼ 8 . ″ 4 . By combining transit photometry, Kepler pixel-level data, direct imaging, and Gaia DR3, we find that the transit signal is consistent with a 10.0 2 − 0.31 + 0.44 R ⊕ giant planet located in the habitable zone of the secondary. We furthermore use resolved companions from Gaia to estimate that another ∼70 out of 515 of Kepler’s centroid false positives were misclassified and instead are real planets that belong to binary systems.

Related

  1. ExoVetter and a TESS Exoplanet Transit Search of Kepler Stars as Ground Truth
    Matthew M. Dallas, Susan E. Mullally, Fergal Mullally +3
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textInstrumentation & methodsPlanetary science & exoplanetsarXiv
  2. Constraining exoplanet population parameters with Kepler and simulation-based inference
    Chloé Padois, Friedrich Anders, Daniel del Ser
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textGalaxiesInstrumentation & methodsarXiv
  3. Precise Stellar Age Constraints and Habitable Zone Evolution in Exoplanet Systems
    Grace Henry, Ted von Hippel, Anna Childs
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textPlanetary science & exoplanetsSolar & stellar physicsarXiv
  4. Precise Stellar Age Constraints and Habitable Zone Evolution in Exoplanet Systems
    Grace A. Henry, Ted von Hippel, Anna C. Childs
    The Astrophysical JournalPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textSolar & stellar physicsCrossref
  5. JWST telemetry combined with active coronagraphy: raw contrast predictions for exoplanet imaging with the Habitable Worlds Observatory
    Raphaël Pourcelot, Laurent A. Pueyo, Emiel H. Por +6
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textInstrumentation & methodsGeneral physicsarXivHAL

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{王2026rescuing,
  title = {{Rescuing Kepler’s False Positives: A Possible Habitable Zone Exoplanet in the Triple-star System KOI-1623}},
  author = {Rita Lanxuan 兰萱 Wang 王 and Daniel Huber and Daniel Hey and Nathanael Burns-Watson and Alexander Larsen and Adam Kraus and Trent J. Dupuy and Steven Giacalone and Justin R. Crepp},
  journal = {The Astronomical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-3881/aea6d0},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6d0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Rescuing Kepler’s False Positives: A Possible Habitable Zone Exoplanet in the Triple-star System KOI-1623
AU  - Rita Lanxuan 兰萱 Wang 王
AU  - Daniel Huber
AU  - Daniel Hey
AU  - Nathanael Burns-Watson
AU  - Alexander Larsen
AU  - Adam Kraus
AU  - Trent J. Dupuy
AU  - Steven Giacalone
AU  - Justin R. Crepp
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - The Astronomical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-3881/aea6d0
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6d0
AB  - The Kepler mission has significantly advanced our understanding of exoplanet demographics. However, Kepler planet candidates showing centroid shifts are often classified as false positives and thus excluded from demographic analyses. Some of these systems may be erroneous false positives, resulting from unresolved binary stars with planets orbiting one of the stars, thereby introducing biases into past exoplanet demographic studies. Here, we present updated Kepler centroid offset values derived from Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) and analyze KOI-1623.01, a Kepler centroid offset false positive with a clear transit signal and an orbital period of 111 days. High-contrast imaging with Keck/NIRC2 reveals that KOI-1623A has a close companion with a separation of 0 . ″ 704 ± 0 . ″ 002 , consisting of a slightly evolved G-type primary and a K dwarf secondary, while Gaia detects a tertiary companion with common proper motion at a separation of ∼ 8 . ″ 4 . By combining transit photometry, Kepler pixel-level data, direct imaging, and Gaia DR3, we find that the transit signal is consistent with a 10.0 2 − 0.31 + 0.44 R ⊕ giant planet located in the habitable zone of the secondary. We furthermore use resolved companions from Gaia to estimate that another ∼70 out of 515 of Kepler’s centroid false positives were misclassified and instead are real planets that belong to binary systems.
SN  - 0004-6256
SN  - 1538-3881
ER  -