James Webb Telescope Discovers Universe's Smallest 'Failed Star'

Overview

• The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered what may be the smallest star-like object in the universe, a brown dwarf only three to four times the mass of Jupiter.
• The brown dwarf was found in the star cluster IC 348, located 1,000 light-years from Earth.
• Brown dwarfs are often referred to as 'failed stars' as they form like stars but are not massive enough to sustain hydrogen fusion in their cores.
• The discovery challenges current understanding of stellar formation and has implications for the study of exoplanets and the classification of celestial bodies.
• An unidentified hydrocarbon molecule, a potential ingredient for life, was also detected in the atmosphere of the brown dwarf and its neighbors.