Brown dwarf research is a subfield of astrophysics focused on objects with masses between the heaviest gas giant planets and the lightest stars, insufficient to sustain stable hydrogen fusion. This research area investigates their formation pathways, atmospheric chemistry and dynamics, internal structure, cooling and evolutionary tracks, and spectral classification (e.g., L, T, and Y types). It leverages multiwavelength observations, high-resolution spectroscopy, and theoretical modeling to constrain substellar mass functions, metallicities, cloud physics, and magnetic activity, and to calibrate brown dwarfs as analogs for exoplanet atmospheres and as benchmarks for testing low-temperature equation-of-state and radiative-transfer models.
Since 2016, an ordinary-looking F-type star called KIC 8462852, nicknamed Tabby's star, has behaved anything but ordinarily. In a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on July 6, researchers ...
By analyzing data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and conducting new radial velocity measurements, U.K. and French astronomers have found evidence that the mysterious Tabby's star may be orbited by ...
Jupiter's moon Io is the most volcanically active planetary body in the solar system, boasting hundreds of active volcanoes that spew molten lava into space. This activity results from a process called tidal heating, in which ...
Astronomy
Jul 28, 2026
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Observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our solar system, the newly found object ...
Astronomy
Jul 22, 2026
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In the course of studying planets beyond our solar system (6,316 confirmed exoplanets and counting), scientists have discovered some very interesting systems. Consider TOI-201, a compact system populated by three bodies, ...
Astronomy
Jul 6, 2026
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A star called TOI-2155 lies around 1,350 light-years (839 trillion miles) from Earth. It is a little bigger, heavier and hotter than the sun, and it is not particularly interesting or unusual in itself.
Astronomy
Jul 2, 2026
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Northwestern University-led astronomers have discovered salty skies surrounding the universe's famous "Pink Planet." For more than a decade, the ancient, rosy-hazed world kept astronomers guessing. One of the coldest known ...
Astronomy
Jun 18, 2026
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A team of astronomers, led by Brooke Kotten of the University of Michigan, has shown that TOI-5882—a sunlike star located some 1,300 light-years away—has likely eaten one of its planets.
Astronomy
Jun 15, 2026
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Our sun is a loner. It lacks a stellar companion hurtling through interstellar space with it. But we've known for a long time that that's actually relatively rare—most stars have at least one gravitationally bound partner. ...
Planetary Sciences
May 27, 2026
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If you've ever taken an introductory astronomy class, you've probably seen the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram. This graph maps out the life cycle of stars by plotting their temperature against their luminosity, and has ...
Astronomy
May 12, 2026
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