Though free-floating planets (FFPs) that have been ejected from their natal star systems may outpopulate their bound counterparts in the terrestrial-mass range, they remain one of the least explored exoplanet […]
Brown Dwarfs
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Methane Emission Observed On A Cold Brown Dwarf
Using new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered methane emission on a brown dwarf, an unexpected finding for such a cold and isolated world.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Hubble Finds That Brown Dwarf Binary Pairs Are Extremely Rare
It takes two to tango, but in the case of brown dwarfs that were once paired as binary systems, that relationship doesn’t last for very long, according to a recent […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Interstellar, Status Report
Free-Floating Planets, Survivor Planets, Captured Planets and Binary Planets from Stellar Flybys
In star clusters, close stellar encounters can strongly impact the architecture of a planetary system or even destroy it.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Status Report
Super-adiabatic Temperature Gradient at Jupiter’s Equatorial Zone and Implications For Water Abundance
The temperature structure of a giant planet was traditionally thought to be an adiabat assuming convective mixing homogenizes entropy.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Atmospheric Waves Driving Variability and Cloud Modulation on a Planetary-Mass Object
Planetary-mass objects and brown dwarfs at the transition from relatively red L dwarfs to bluer mid-T dwarfs (Teff∼1300 K) show enhanced spectrophotometric variability.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Citizen Science / Open Science, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
89 New Ultracool Dwarf Co-Moving Companions Identified With The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project
We report the identification of 89 new systems containing ultracool dwarf companions to main sequence stars and white dwarfs, using the citizen science project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 and cross-reference […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Validation Of A Third Planet In The LHS 1678 System
The nearby LHS 1678 (TOI-696) system contains two confirmed planets and a wide-orbit, likely-brown-dwarf companion, which orbit an M2 dwarf with a unique evolutionary history. The host star occupies a […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Near-infrared Spectroscopic Characterisation Of Gaia Ultra-cool Dwarf Candidates; Spectral Types And Peculiarities
Context: The local census of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs is crucial to improving our understanding of the stellar-substellar transition and their formation history. These objects, known as ultra-cool […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Searching For Giant Exoplanets Around M-dwarf Stars (GEMS) I: Survey Motivation
Recent discoveries of transiting giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars (GEMS), aided by the all-sky coverage of TESS, are starting to stretch theories of planet formation through the core-accretion scenario. Recent […]