Astronomers discover a planet with three suns

A team of astronomers led by Jason Eastman from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics recently took a closer look at the KELT-4 system, located 685 light years from Earth, and learned it's even weirder than originally thought, reports the Washington Post.

While it was once believed to be home to a "hot Jupiter" and two suns, researchers have learned there are actually 3 stars involved.

Stable planets existing in such systems are incredibly rare, having been observed in only 3 other instances.

See images of space during the month of February:

In fact, based on current scientific theories, they shouldn't even exist.

Nonetheless, in the case of KELT-4Ab, the gas giant hugs the system's central sun so closely it completes a full orbit every 3 days.

The other two stars circle at a distance that is roughly equivalent to 8 times the space between our sun and Pluto.