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Recent Articles
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Topic: Brown Dwarf
Scientists tapped into the worldwide network of 150,000 volunteers using Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 to find new examples of brown dwarfs. These objects are balls of gas that are not heavy enough to be stars since they can’t power themselves through nuclear fusion the way stars do. ![]() Artist’s conception of a brown dwarf, featuring the cloudy atmosphere of a planet and the residual light of an almost-star. (NASA/ESA/JPL) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Disk Detective project lets public help find Planet Forming Disks
Through a project called Disk Detective, you can help. Anyone, regardless of background or prior knowledge, can assist scientists in figuring out the mysteries of planet formation. Disk Detective is an example of citizen science, a collaboration between professional scientists and members of the public. ![]() This illustration shows a young, Sun-like star encircled by its planet-forming disk of gas and dust. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope used to determine Wind Speed of Brown Dwarf
Described in a paper in the journal Science, the work combines observations by a group of radio telescopes with data from NASA’s recently retired infrared observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. ![]() This artist’s concept shows a brown dwarf, an object that is at least 13 times the mass of Jupiter but not massive enough to begin nuclear fusion in its core, which is the defining characteristic of a star. Scientist using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope recently made the first ever direct measurement of wind on a brown dwarf. (NASA) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope discovers White Dwarf sucking off material from orbiting Brown Dwarf
A new search of Kepler archival data has uncovered an unusual super-outburst from a previously unknown dwarf nova. The system brightened by a factor of 1,600 over less than a day before slowly fading away. ![]() This illustration shows a newly discovered dwarf nova system, in which a white dwarf star is pulling material off a brown dwarf companion. The material collects into an accretion disk until reaching a tipping point, causing it to suddenly increase in brightness. (NASA and L. Hustak (STScI)) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope helps produce new Weather Model for Brown DwarfsWritten by Elizabeth Landau
Now, researchers have a new model for explaining how clouds move and change shape in brown dwarfs, using insights from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. Giant waves cause large-scale movement of particles in brown dwarfs’ atmospheres, changing the thickness of the silicate clouds, researchers report in the journal Science. ![]() This artist’s concept shows a brown dwarf with bands of clouds, thought to resemble those seen at Neptune and the other outer planets. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA reports Vortex Coronagraph takes it’s first Planetary System ImagesWritten by Elizabeth Landau
The device, called a vortex coronagraph, was recently installed inside NIRC2 (Near Infrared Camera 2), the workhorse infrared imaging camera at Keck. It has the potential to image planetary systems and brown dwarfs closer to their host stars than any other instrument in the world. ![]() The vortex mask shown at left is made out of synthetic diamond. Viewed with an scanning electron microscope, right, the “vortex” microstructure of the mask is revealed. (University of Liège/Uppsala University) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Spitzer and Swift Space Telescopes use Microlensing to discover Brown DwarfWritten by Elizabeth Landau
Brown dwarfs are thought to be the missing link between planets and stars, with masses up to 80 times that of Jupiter. But their centers are not hot or dense enough to generate energy through nuclear fusion the way stars do. ![]() This illustration depicts a newly discovered brown dwarf, an object that weighs in somewhere between our solar system’s most massive planet (Jupiter) and the least-massive known star. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes discover star with storm cloud similar to Jupiter’s Red SpotWritten by Whitney Clavin
“The star is the size of Jupiter, and its storm is the size of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot,” said John Gizis of the University of Delaware, Newark. “We know this newfound storm has lasted at least two years, and probably longer.” Gizis is the lead author of a new study appearing in The Astrophysical Journal. ![]() This illustration shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope finds Rejuvenated Planet around Dead StarWritten by Whitney Clavin
But new research from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has identified one such candidate, seemingly looking billions of years younger than its actual age. “When planets are young, they still glow with infrared light from their formation,” said Michael Jura of UCLA, coauthor of a new paper on the results in the June 10th issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. “But as they get older and cooler, you can’t see them anymore. Rejuvenated planets would be visible again.” ![]() This artist’s concept shows a hypothetical “rejuvenated” planet — a gas giant that has reclaimed its youthful infrared glow. NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope found tentative evidence for one such planet around a dead star, or white dwarf, called PG 0010+280 (depicted as white dot in illustration). (NASA/JPL-Caltech) «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
NASA’s WISE, Spitzer space telescopes discover Brown Dwarf system close byWritten by Whitney Clavin
Images from the space telescopes also pinpointed the object’s distance to 7.2 light-years away, earning it the title for fourth closest system to our sun. The closest system, a trio of stars, is Alpha Centauri, at about 4 light-years away. ![]() This artist’s conception shows the object named WISE J085510.83-071442.5, the coldest known brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs are dim star-like bodies that lack the mass to burn nuclear fuel as stars do. «Read the rest of this article» Sections: Technology | No Comments
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