Brown dwarf Definition and 21 Threads

Hello, do anybody knows something about the formation of Stars and brown Dwarfs due to photo-erosion? If prestellar cores form in a molekular cloud with some O- and B-stars, the gas or the hydrogen gets ionised and this somehow stops the protostar from akkreting more mass. Why does that stop...

Can T-tauri stars, due to the fact that they loose matter, become a Brown dwarf?

Hello, I'm in grade 12, writing a term paper on brown dwarfs and am currently looking at their formation. I have now come across the formation of brown dwarfs in so-called "filaments" (link to the page below), but can't find out anything about them, except for the fact that they are filamentary...

After reading the introduction of ultracool dwarf and brown dwarf in Wikipedia, I can't see the difference between them. Besides, do they all belong to the main sequence stars?

A brown dwarf is not quite a star whose core temperatures are only a few million degrees and can't initiate fusion. After billions of years it has to cool down. Does the hydrogen just dissipate or does the hydrogen cool down to the temperature of the universe, a few degrees kelvin, and form...

Lightning is well known from planets, and to some extent the bigger the planet, the more powerful the lightning. Would it also be possible on brown dwarfs (Y, T, L, M)? What about red dwarfs (M)? Other stars?

Summary: Can an interstellar planet be hot enough to heat it's terrestrial moon without igniting fusion? I am a science fiction writer, however I am studying astrophysics to better captivate audiences with real and believable plots, The idea in question is an interstellar sub brown dwarf gas...

Why wouldn't a brown dwarf grow in radius if it started to gain mass?

It has been my understanding that a brown dwarf was defined by when an object has achieved sufficient mass to begin deuterium fusion. Much like a star is defined by when it has achieved sufficient mass to begin hydrogen fusion. The minimum mass to begin fusing deuterium is estimated to be...

I have been reading up on the latest Hubble observations concerning the binary brown dwarf pair Luhman 16AB (officially WISE J104915.57-531906.1AB). It occurred to me that I did not know what to call the objects that most likely are in orbit around both brown dwarfs. Since brown dwarfs are...

by Ken Croswell New observations indicate that objects born with a mass just 6.7 per cent that of the Sun can shine for trillions of years rather than fizzle out as failed stars known as brown dwarfs. Link: New Scientist

The majority of our focus for exoplanets have been around main sequence stars, understandably so. However, one place we have not looked very closely is for exoplanets around brown dwarfs (or would it be exomoons?). Brown dwarfs are not quite planets and not quite stars, so I am not certain...

Below is the arXiv free reprint being referenced by the above magazine article. Ironically, they were using ALMA in order to attempt to confirm the exoplanet previously found orbiting Alpha Centauri B when this object was discovered. The brighter the object the more likely it would have been...

To begin with, I am an enthusiastic but very amateur physicist. I am working on my knowledge by taking online open courseware, buying textbooks and doing all the questions. I recently bought Astrophysics of Planet Formation which is no doubt out of my league but I like to pick at it from time to...

Hello, thank you for reading my post. For a story I am working on I am wondering about the plausibility of some star and planet configurations. I have done some web research on my own and learned a lot, but for some things I think my vocabulary and knowledge is too limited to search for exactly...

Brown dwarf galaxies are, i think the coldest systems in the universe, If they continue to loose heat energy they must loose gravitational energy as well, eventually these galaxies will be ripped apart by the tidal effects of more massive galaxies. So if this is correct what happened to the...

The recent discovery of a warm super-Jupiter [re: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=727440] raises tantalizing questions about the prospects of life being found on, or near, such a body. A quick perusal of the literature reveals [unsurprisingly] this possibility has been considered...

Is it possible for some brown dwarves to be more massive than some stars?

Apparently, you can: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/nasa-spots-chilled-stars-cooler-human-body-004551421.html At least temperature-wise. Don't know about the gravity... If the brown dwarf is that cool, though, wouldn't it still be a gassy object, too tenuous to walk?

Did a brown dwarf ever experience fusion? What is the smallest size star, ie., sustained fusion model? ... how do we determine the mass that will sustain fusion of a star.? What effect does plasma in space have on star's fusion reaction? thank you

Life on a brown dwarf or a fissioning rogue planet? Is life on a brown dwarf or a rogue planet with a fissioning core any less feasible than life in a solar system?