The binary system is composed of a G-type main sequence star (Kepler-47A) and a red dwarf star (Kepler-47B). The stars orbit each other around their barycenter, or center of mass between them, completing one full orbit every 7.45 days. The stars orbit their barycenter from a distance of about 0.084 AU. The stars have 104% and 35% of the Sun's mass, and 96% and 35% of the Sun's radius, respectively. They have surface temperatures of 5636 K and 3357 K. Based on the stellar characteristics and orbital dynamics, an estimated age of 4–5 billion years for the system is possible. In comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and has a temperature of 5772 K. The primary star is somewhat metal-poor, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of about −0.25, or about 56% of the amount of iron and other heavier metals found in the Sun. Both of the stars' luminosities are typical for their kind, with a luminosities of around 84% and 1% of that of the solar luminosity, respectively. The apparent magnitude of the star system, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is about 15.4. It is too dim to be seen with the naked eye, which can typically detect objects with a magnitude less than 6.5. Prior to the discovery of the Kepler-47 planetary system by Jerome Orosz, his colleagues, as well as astronomers from Tel-Aviv University in 2012, it was thought that binary stars with multiple planets could not exist. It was believed that gravitational perturbations caused by the orbiting parent stars would cause any circumbinary planets to collide with each other or be ejected out of orbit, either into one of the parent stars or away from the system. However, this discovery demonstrates that multiple planets can form around binary stars, even in their habitable zones; and while the planets in the Kepler-47 system are unlikely to harbor life, other planets orbiting around binary star systems may be habitable and could support life. Because most stars are binary, the discovery that multi-planet systems can form in such a system has impacted previous theories of planetary formation, and could provide more opportunities for finding potentially habitable exoplanets. The binary system is known to host three planets, all orbiting close to each other and larger than Earth, with no solid surface. All three of the planets in the Kepler-47 system have a very low density, less than that of Saturn.