Monday, March 28, 2011

'Brown dwarf' has chance to shine after new telescope sees beyond brighter companion

Found at last: The coldest ever brown dwarf was found hiding beside a brighter star 75million light years awayScientists were this week amazed after the discovery of space's dimmest and coldest star - with a temperature the same as a cup of tea.

The two brown dwarf stars stunned astronomers when they were spotted through a set of three high-powered telescopes.

Both of them are about the same size as Jupiter but the smaller, more distant, star has a surface temperature of around 100 degrees.

The incredibly cool temperature - the same as a freshly boiled cup of tea - makes it the coldest one in the night sky.

A warmer and brighter companion had originally obscured the brown dwarf which has been named CFBDSIR J1458+1013B.

But with new, more powerful telescopes, astronomers were able to see the star, which is almost five times dimmer and 130 degrees cooler than the previous record.

The brown dwarf may represent a new class of cosmic objects straddling the division between stars and planets.

via 'Brown dwarf' has chance to shine after new telescope sees beyond brighter companion | Mail Online.

It's a stanet ... or a plar.

 

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