By Ron Cowen
The population of extrasolar planets may be an illusion, according to a controversial new study. Nearly half of the so-called planets may be much more massive and mundane—either lightweight stars or stellar wannabes known as brown dwarfs.
The researchers who presented the contentious report this week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, Calif., call their results preliminary. Several other scientists, including an astronomer whose team has done a similar analysis, express skepticism.