Posted on Thursday, May 01, 2014
Scientists have discovered the coldest brown dwarf in the vicinity of the Solar system, lying just 7.2 light-years away. This distance makes it fourth closest system to us.
The object was discovered with NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Spitzer Space Telescope, both of which see the universe in infrared, the radiation most visible from brown dwarfs is in the infrared wavelengths of the spectrum.
The objects temperature has been determined to be between -48 degrees Centigrade up to -13 degrees. It's mass estimations range from 3 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, which would make it quite a light-weight brown dwarf.
The closest brown dwarfs to the Sun were discovered in 2013, their a lot warmer pair of brown dwarfs 6.5 light-years away.
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| Artists conception of the coldest known brown dwarf (WISE J085510.83-071442.5) . Credit:
Penn State University/NASA/JPL-Caltech
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The object was discovered with NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and Spitzer Space Telescope, both of which see the universe in infrared, the radiation most visible from brown dwarfs is in the infrared wavelengths of the spectrum.
The objects temperature has been determined to be between -48 degrees Centigrade up to -13 degrees. It's mass estimations range from 3 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter, which would make it quite a light-weight brown dwarf.
The closest brown dwarfs to the Sun were discovered in 2013, their a lot warmer pair of brown dwarfs 6.5 light-years away.
Labels: brown dwarfs, news