New brown dwarfs show link to planets. (brown dwarfs orbiting nearby stars)(Astronomy)(Brief Article)

From: Science News | Date: July 27, 1996 | Copyright information

Planets and brown dwarfs wouldn't seem to have much in common. The former are thought to form from the flattened disks of gas and dust that surround newborn stars. The latter are thought to arise as stars do, by the agglomeration of gas in part of an interstellar cloud. Moreover, brown dwarfs, also called failed stars because they don't have enough mass to shine brightly, weigh much more than planets.

Since last fall, astronomers have reported indirect evidence of six planets orbiting nearby, sunlike stars (SN: 7/6/96, p. 11). The biggest of them has a mass about eight times that ...

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