BROWN dwarfs are hard to spot, but a Japanese PhD student has found the
largest collection ever seen, in the constellation Cygnus about 2000 light years
from Earth. With less than 0.08 times the Sun’s mass, brown dwarfs are too small
and cold to sustain nuclear fusion in their cores, so they grow steadily dimmer.
The Hubble Space Telescope spotted dozens in the Orion Nebula last year, but now
Yumiko Oasa of the University of Tokyo has counted hundreds more in an image
taken by the Subaru Telescope of a gas cloud surrounding a 100,000-year-old
supergiant star.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Mind
Where do you think your ‘self’ is? Your answer is revealing
Comment

Mind
Vocal fry is more common in men, actually, find scientists
News

Environment
Will burying dead trees after a wildfire keep their carbon locked up?
News

Technology
3 things you need to know about quantum computers, from an expert
Comment
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum
2
Rebooting stem cells builds aged muscles and assists injury recovery
3
Neanderthals treated a dental cavity by drilling into the tooth
4
Where did the laws of physics come from? I think I've found the answer
5
Asteroid set to fly very close to Earth
6
PCOS has been officially renamed PMOS, and it’s a momentous move
7
Melting of Greenland ice sheet could release methane 'fire ice'
8
Huge study of ancient British DNA reveals only minor Roman influence
9
Arctic fires are releasing carbon stored for thousands of years
10
Can cloud seeding save us from water bankruptcy?