That's Shorts And T-Shirt Weather!: Astronomers Discover An 80-Degree Star
That's no moon! Seriously -- it's a star, guys.
There's a new coldest star in town (read: galaxy), folks, and that star is a Y brown dwarf named WISE 1828+2650. Wow, your parents must have really hated you. YOUR NAME IS A MATH PROBLEM!
Y dwarfs are the dimmest stars of the brown dwarf family, like all brown dwarfs, they are not massive enough to fuse atoms at their cores. Without the atomic energy that allows stars like our sun to burn for billions of years, brown dwarfs gradually cool, until they only emit infrared light.
One of the Y dwarfs found, WISE 1828+2650, now holds the record for chilliest star at 80 degrees Farenheit.Brown dwarfs help astronomers study star formation and the atmospheres of planets like Jupiter. Their atmospheres, similar in composition to the gas-giant planets, are often easier to observe because brown dwarfs are isolated in space, away from the light of more brilliant, parent stars.
Not gonna lie, being a brown dwarf sounds pretty depressing. "Isolated in space...away from the light of more brilliant, parent stars." Great, so not only are both your parents doctors, but you have to live alone in the woods. You know, this is how stars develop complexes.
NASA Satellite Finds Coldest, Darkest Stars Yet [wired]
Thanks to Braun, who's so bright his dad calls him son.
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WD 0806-661 B, a brown dwarf (artist's rendition, lower right) orbiting a white dwarf (interracial orbiting FTW!) some 75-light years from earth. Shit, pack a picnic and let's go! "GW? You don't actually know how far a light-year is, do you?" OVER 1,000 WATTS! Extra mayo o... / Continue →
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Now I know what you're thinking, and no, you can't steal this photo to use as your new dating website profile pic. It just wouldn't be fair to Neil. This is a video (well, audio with some graphics on top) of famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sharing what he thinks is t... / Continue →
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Not Alderaan? Seen here in an artist's rendition that may or may yes have involved Photoshopping two holes out of a bowling ball, printing that out, and gluing it to a piece of construction paper, the current record holder for the universe's darkest known planet is seen refl... / Continue →
