The perfect spherical star is 5,000 light-years from Earth

German astronomers discovered a giant star with almost perfect spherical shape at 5,000 light-years from Earth.

The star is named the most rounded object in nature named Kepler 11145123 , twice as large and spinning three times slower than the Sun, according to research published on November 16 in Science Magazine. Astronomers analyzing Kepler's rotation 11145123 were very surprised to find differences in the diameter between the equator and the polar region of the extremely small star.

"This makes Kepler 11145123 the most rounded natural object ever measured. The star is even more rounded than the Sun," Phys.org quoted Laurent Gizon at the Max Planck Solar System Research Institute and the University. Göttingen.

Kepler 11145123 (white blue) is arguably the most rounded object in nature that researchers have ever measured.(Photo: Mark A. Garlick).

Stars are not perfectly spherical. When spinning, they become flattened by centrifugal force. The new discovery marks the first time astronomers have successfully measured the flatness of a slowly rotating star with the greatest accuracy ever.

The research team determined the star's flattening by stellar oscillation technology . They applied this technology to a star about 5,000 light-years from Earth and found the difference between the equatorial radius and the star's polarity at only three kilometers. This is a very small number compared to the star's 1.5 million km radius. Measurements indicate the Kepler gas sphere 11145123 is really round.

Gizon and his colleagues chose to study Kepler 11145123 because the star has sinusoidal vibrations . The cyclic expansion and contraction of the star can be detected by the star's fluctuation in brightness. The Kepler spacecraft of the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) observes the oscillation of the star continuously for more than 4 years. The oscillating model varies with the star's latitude. The team compared the frequency of oscillations in low latitudes with high latitudes.

The researchers concluded that the existence of a magnetic field at a low latitude could make the star rounder . "We plan to apply this method to other stars that Kepler observes. We are particularly interested in tracking fast rotation speeds and stronger magnetic fields that can reshape a star like that. " , Gizon shared.