Brown Dwarf Found Orbiting a Young Sun-Like Star

[Nickelson Profile]

Astronomers have imaged a very young brown dwarf, or failed star, in a tight orbit around a young nearby sun-like star.



An international team led by University of Hawaii astronomers Beth Biller and Michael Liu with help from University of Arizona astronomer Laird Close and UA graduate students Eric Nielsen, Jared Males and Andy Skemer made the rare find using the Near-Infrared Coronagraphic Imager, or NICI, on the international 8-meter Gemini-South Telescope in Chile.


For more information, check source:
uanews.org

[Nickelson Profile]

Could this mean our Sun has a companion out there, or maybe had a companion when forming?

NICI campaign leader Michael Liu said: "We are just beginning to glean the many configurations of solar systems around stars like the sun. The unique capabilities of NICI provide us with a powerful tool for studying their constituents using direct imaging."

Nevertheless we still cannot rule out the possibility of a Brown Dwarf as a companion to our Sun. It would be in huge orbit dough, due to the fact this brown dwarf is removing away from his star.

We're in for a surprise in the near future I guess.