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Brown Dwarf Hits Record Low

Posted by Soulskill on from the bring-a-jacket dept.

astroengine writes "The Keck II infrared telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, has spotted what appears to be the coldest brown dwarf ever detected. Astronomers from the University of Hawaii have managed to constrain its temperature to just shy of 100 degrees Celsius. The object is part of a brown dwarf binary system and is estimated to be 6-15 times the mass of Jupiter. This is an exciting object as it could belong to a so-far theoretical 'Y' class of brown dwarf, a classification that makes objects like this cool example more planet-like than star-like."

4 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Re:So maybe they can find water on it? by Jugalator · · Score: 3, Informative

    Methanopyrus was found living happily at a depth of 2000 m at temperatures 84-110 C (183-230 F).

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanopyrus

    I think that's the record.

    There's Strain 121 too, which sounds like a Star Trek alien name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strain_121

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  2. Re:So maybe they can find water on it? by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Informative
    Superheated water is required for plate subduction. It acts as a lubricant. It's one of the reasons why injecting water into wells to recover more oil triggers earthquakes. Even geothermal power generation can cause it.

    Molten lead won't do it, if only because it won't flash into steam when the pressure is partially released, and blast out new channels, causing even more movement, more sudden pressure drops, and more steam, until the plate slips enough to release the pent-up strain.

  3. Re:Dyson spheres? Ringworlds? by pavon · · Score: 3, Informative

    If the ring is even the slightest bit uncentered, then it will become more and more uncentered over time, moving in a hula-hoop like rotation around the sun until it eventually touches the sun. You need an active repositioning system to prevent this from happening (like Niven introduced in later books).

    http://testservice-eprints.gla.ac.uk/38/1/JIBS_C_McInnes_56_308.pdf

  4. Re:So maybe they can find water on it? by Nikkos · · Score: 3, Informative

    The author was Robert Forward. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon's_Egg
    Very clever book. I miss "hard science" fiction like his.