A new study tied to NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project reports a major expansion of the known brown dwarf population. The project’s volunteer effort adds “over 3,000” new discoveries accumulated over roughly the past 10 years, bringing the total known number of brown dwarfs to nearly double what it was previously, according to the study. Brown dwarfs are objects made mostly of gas with sizes comparable to Jupiter but with masses below those of stars. They occupy a range between planets and stars, and they can be difficult to detect because they are relatively dim. The sources also note that brown dwarfs are relatively common in the solar neighborhood, with an estimated one brown dwarf for every three or four stars near the Sun. The findings credit volunteer classification work as a key driver of the increase in discoveries, while the underlying data come from astronomical surveys analyzed through the project.
NASA Citizen Scientists Nearly Double Known Brown Dwarf Population
A new study tied to NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project reports a major expansion of the known brown dwarf population. The project’s volunteer effort adds “over 3,000” new discoveries accumulated...
- NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project reports over 3,000 new brown dwarf discoveries.
- The volunteer effort over about 10 years nearly doubles the known brown dwarf population.
- Brown dwarfs are gas objects about the size of Jupiter but less massive than stars.
- Brown dwarfs are estimated to be common nearby, at roughly one per three or four stars near the Sun.
A new paper from NASA's Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project announces that volunteers have essentially doubled the number of known brown dwarfs, with over 3,000 new discoveries made over the past 10 years since the project began. Brown dwarfs are balls of gas the size of Jupiter, less massive than stars. There's one for every three or four stars near the sun.
3 months agoA new paper from NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project announces that volunteers have essentially doubled the number of known brown dwarfs, with over 3,000 new discoveries made over the past 10 years since the project began. Brown dwarfs are balls of gas the size of Jupiter, less massive than stars. There’s one for every three or four stars near the Sun.
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