Scientists realize they are seeing twice as much as a brown dwarf has been found for decades

New York (AFP) – A celestial body discovered decades ago is actually twins orbiting around each other. New study Confirms.

Scientists have puzzled over the object known as Gliese 229B, the first known brown dwarf discovered 30 years ago. Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars because they are lighter than stars, but heavier than gas giant planets.

This object seemed very faint for its mass. Astronomers have collected optical and chemical evidence using… Very large telescope In Chile we noticed that they are two pairs orbiting close to each other.

“It resolves a glaring contradiction,” said Kevin Lohman, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved in the research.

The twin orbits around a small star about 18 light-years away. A light year equals 5.8 trillion miles.

Astronomers have observed pairs of brown dwarfs before, but these pairs move at a much closer distance. They orbit each other every 12 days, less than the time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth.

“It shows you how strange the universe is, and how different solar systems are from our own,” said study co-author Rebecca Oppenheimer from the American Museum of Natural History.

The research was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Co-author Jerry Schwan of the California Institute of Technology said the discovery of the twins means there may be other brown dwarfs lurking with a hidden partner.

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