Bullet Cluster

Astronomy & Observing News

Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies

Two objects that appeared to be galaxies residing in a universe about 150 million years old turn out to be brown dwarfs in the Milky Way.

Brown dwarf duo (art)

Astronomy & Observing News

Brown Dwarfs Dance Unexpected Tango

Two brown dwarfs are whipping around each other in a tight tango — an unexpected dance for objects that are not-quite-stars and not-quite-planets.

Astronomy & Observing News

Rogue World Found Gobbling Material at Unprecedented Rate

Astronomers discovered a small, free-floating object that’s accreting matter at a breakneck pace, suggesting that some planet-size worlds could form similar to stars.

Older image of star (bright) and bright dot picked out of the glare (brown dwarf)

Astronomy & Observing News

Gliese 229 B’s Newfound Companion Solves Brown Dwarf Mystery

A 1995 Hubble Space Telescope image of the brown dwarf Gliese 229 B next to its far brighter host star, the M dwarf Gliese 229 A. S. Kulkarni (Caltech), D.Golimowski (JHU) and NASA Astronomers recently discovered a companion to Gliese 229 B, the first confidently identified brown dwarf. This discovery…

Dan Caselden visiting the BDNYC group at the AMNH

Astronomy & Observing News

Citizen Scientist Wins Prestigious AAS Award

The American Astronomical Society recognized Dan Caselden’s contributions to science at their recent winter meeting.

Star with planet

Astronomy & Observing News

Astro News: Planet-eating Stars and an Accidental Brown Dwarf

This week in astronomy news: A citizen scientist happens upon a weird, ancient brown dwarf and astronomers discover that Sun-like stars eat their own planets.

Brown dwarf aurorae

Astronomy & Observing News

Radio Transmission from a Brown Dwarf

The radio discovery of a brown dwarf holds promise for future exoplanet detections.

Brown dwarf

Astronomy & Observing News

Citizen Scientists Help Discover “Weird” Brown Dwarfs

Astronomers and citizen scientists have found two would-be stars lacking heavy elements. They’re most likely ancient survivors of our galaxy’s earliest days.

Brown Dwarf with Aurora

Astronomy & Observing News

Auroras Discovered Around Rogue Brown Dwarf

Astronomers have discovered auroras around a set of brown dwarfs — including one that wanders the galaxy by itself — indicating surprisingly strong magnetic fields in these failed stars.

Star-forming region RCW 38

Astronomy & Observing News

100 Billion Brown Dwarfs in the Milky Way?

A new study of a nearby cluster of newly formed stars reveals that brown dwarfs may rival stars in the Milky Way in number, with one brown dwarf for every two bona fide stars.

Brown dwarf discovered in Backyard Worlds

Citizen Science: Projects & Collaboration

Citizens Spot Cold World 100 Light-years Away

Citizen scientists have discovered a brown dwarf 100 light-years from the Sun, and more finds are sure to come from the Backyard Worlds citizen-science project.

Astronomy & Observing News

Brown Dwarfs vs. Stars: What Makes a Star a Star?

At what point does a clump of gas ignite, turning into a star? Astronomers now have an answer to what makes a star — and what makes a brown dwarf.

Brown dwarf with disk

Astronomy & Observing News

Brown Dwarfs Mimic Their Big Stellar Siblings

Two recent studies suggest that brown dwarfs, or so-called “failed stars,” are nevertheless more like stars than planets.