Universe ID: 12660

New Brown Dwarf Found by NASA-funded Citizen Science Project

Released on July 17, 2017

Rosa Castro finished her dinner, opened her laptop, and uncovered a novel object that was neither planet nor star. Therapist by day and amateur astronomer by night, Castro joined the NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project when it began in February&emdash;not knowing she would become one of four volunteers to help identify the project's first brown dwarf, formally known as WISEA J110125.95+540052.8.

Since scientists published a paper about the discovery in late May, the project has identified roughly 75 additional candidates.

It's been roughly two decades since researchers first discovered brown dwarfs, and the scientific community opened its eyes to this new class of objects between stars and planets. Although they are as common as stars and form in much the same way, brown dwarfs lack the mass necessary to sustain nuclear fusion reactions. They therefore do not have the energy to maintain their luminosity, so they slowly cool over the course of their lifetimes. Their low temperatures also render them intrinsically dim.

The newly discovered brown dwarf WISEA J110125.95+540052.8 appears as a moving dot (circled) in this animated flipbook from the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project.

Credit: NASA/WISE

The newly discovered brown dwarf WISEA J110125.95+540052.8 appears as a moving dot (indicated by the arrow) in this animated flipbook from the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project.

Credit: NASA/WISE