James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Smallest Known Brown Dwarf

The record-breaking brown dwarf, with a mass only three to four times that of Jupiter, challenges current theories about star formation and reveals unexpected atmospheric composition.

Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered the smallest free-floating brown dwarf ever identified, with a mass only three to four times that of Jupiter.
The brown dwarf was found in the young star cluster IC 348, located about 1,000 light-years away in the Perseus star-forming region.
The discovery challenges current theories about star formation, as it is theoretically difficult for a small cloud to collapse to form a brown dwarf, especially one with the mass of a giant planet.
Two of the brown dwarfs identified in the survey show the spectral signature of an unidentified hydrocarbon, a molecule containing both hydrogen and carbon atoms, which has not been predicted in models for brown dwarf atmospheres.
While the objects are within the mass range of giant planets, researchers argue they are more likely to be brown dwarfs than ejected planets, although further research is needed to clarify their status.

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