LkCa 15 is a T Tauri star in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. These types of stars are relatively young pre-main-sequence stars that show irregular variations in brightness.^[7] It has a mass that is about 97% of the Sun,^[2] an effective temperature of 4370 K,^[5] and is slightly cooler than the Sun. Its apparent magnitude is 11.91,^[2] meaning it is not visible to the naked eye.

LkCa 15 is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, typical of many T Tauri stars.^[7] The disk around the star is about 55 times more massive than Jupiter,^[8] and consists of three major belts (components).^[4] Small changes in the observed brightness of the disk may be due to a planetary companion; the star was believed to have a protoplanetary object or exoplanet orbiting it, known as LkCa 15 b^[9][10] This name stems from an older survey.^[11] Later, the existence of up to three planets was suspected. The planets' existence was refuted in 2019 as higher resolution imaging became available.^[4]

LkCa 15 b is a candidate protoplanetary object in orbit around LkCa 15, a star in the Taurus-Auriga Star Forming Region. Its potential discovery was effected by direct imaging techniques using the Keck II telescope in 2011 by Adam Kraus and Michael Ireland.^[9] A 2015 study of observations from the Magellan Telescopes and the Large Binocular Telescope argued that the planet is forming through accretion.^[10] It would be the first observed exoplanet seen in the process of active accretion.^[12] The planet’s existence was refuted in 2019 as higher resolution imaging became available.^[4]