Brown dwarves are almost stars-- bodies not quite dense enough and massive enough to ignite and sustain nuclear reactions. Astronomers have therefore assumed they wouldn't have planets.
A new study of a dusty disk around a brown dwarf 400 light years away, however, suggests Earth-sized planets are possible. Given the size of a good proportion of the dust grains in the disk, astronomers think they will evventually coalesce into worlds similar to Earth.
As brown dwarves do not shine by nuclear reactions but dimly glow by gravitational contraction, it's unlikely any such worlds would harbor life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment