Categories: Brown Dwarf

Twin Brown Dwarfs Discovered, Orbiting one Another at Three Times the Distance From the Sun to Pluto

Gravity is a funny force.  The gravity of every given object technically impacts every other given object, though, in practice, large distance and small masses make those forces negligible for such interactions.  But in some cases, especially when large groups are floating in empty space, gravity can still hold sway over considerable distances.  Such is the case with a new pair of brown dwarfs found by astronomers at the Keck Observatory.

Those brown dwarves are paired to each other, but the distance between them is 12 billion miles – 3 times the distance of Pluto to the Sun.  The system, called CWISE J014611.20-050850.0AB, was discovered using observations made by UC San Diego’s Cool Star Lab.  Observations were completed with the Near-Infrared Echellete Spectrometer (NIRES) instruments.

UT contributor Paul Sutter explains why brown dwarfs are so unique.
Credit – Paul Sutter YouTube Channel

Infrared surveys are particularly good at detecting brown dwarves, as they emit heat rather than light.  In the case of CWISE J014611.20-050850.0AB it was even more critical than usual. “Keck’s exceptional sensitivity in the infrared with this instrument was critical to our measurements.  The secondary brown dwarf of this system is exceptionally faint…” said study co-author and UCSD Physics professor Adam Burgasser, but they were able to differentiate it with Keck.   

To know where to look, they first utilized another tool – the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which has already discovered many brown dwarfs.  An associated citizen science project called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 typically searches WISE databases for hints of brown dwarfs.  The researchers took a look at 3,000 separate brown dwarfs discovered by Backyard Worlds and cross-referenced them with data from the Dark Energy Survey, another tool that had observed that part of the sky.

Want to help with these efforts? Contribute to Backyard Worlds today!
Credit – NASA Goddard YouTube Channel

Keck’s observations solidified the finding, even so far away as it is.  The researchers stress the importance of finding unique binary systems to help inform models of how exactly brown dwarf binaries are formed and estimate how many of them might be out there.  There are sure to be plenty more where CWISE J014611.20-050850.0AB came from.

Learn More:
Keck Observatory – Astronomers Discover Widest Separation Of Brown Dwarf Pair To Date
Space.com – Rare double brown dwarf eclipse spotted in surprise discovery
JPL – An Accidental Discovery Hints at a Hidden Population of Cosmic Objects
UT – Astronomers Capture a Direct Image of a Brown Dwarf

Lead Image:
Image of the system in question from WISE (left) and the Dark Energy Survey (right).
Credit – WISE / DES / Softich et al.

Andy Tomaswick

Recent Posts

NASA is Developing Solutions for Lunar Housekeeping’s Biggest Problem: Dust!

Through the Artemis Program, NASA will send the first astronauts to the Moon since the…

2 hours ago

Where’s the Most Promising Place to Find Martian Life?

New research suggests that our best hopes for finding existing life on Mars isn’t on…

3 hours ago

Can Entangled Particles Communicate Faster than Light?

Entanglement is perhaps one of the most confusing aspects of quantum mechanics. On its surface,…

1 day ago

IceCube Just Spent 10 Years Searching for Dark Matter

Neutrinos are tricky little blighters that are hard to observe. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory in…

2 days ago

Star Devouring Black Hole Spotted by Astronomers

A team of astronomers have detected a surprisingly fast and bright burst of energy from…

2 days ago

What Makes Brown Dwarfs So Weird?

Meet the brown dwarf: bigger than a planet, and smaller than a star. A category…

2 days ago