Image of the brown dwarf (in the red circle) discovered around the star HIP 21152, obtained with the Very Large Telescope SPHERE instrument.
Image of the brown dwarf (in the red circle) discovered around the star HIP 21152, obtained with the Very Large Telescope SPHERE instrument. M. Bonavita et al. MNRAS, July 2022, doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1250 Brown dwarfs, mysterious objects that straddle the line between stars and planets, are essential to our understanding of both stellar and planetary populations. However, only 40 brown dwarfs could be imaged around stars in almost three decades of searches. An international team led by researchers from the Open University and the University of Bern directly imaged a remarkable four new brown dwarfs thanks to a new innovative search method. Brown dwarfs are mysterious astronomical objects that fill the gap between the heaviest planets and the lightest stars, with a mix of stellar and planetary characteristics. Due to this hybrid nature, these puzzling objects are crucial to improve our understanding of both stars and giant planets.
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