James Webb Telescope Reveals Limits of Brown Dwarf Formation in Flame Nebula

Astronomers used Webb's infrared capabilities to identify free-floating objects as small as two to three Jupiter masses, refining the understanding of brown dwarf formation.

The James Webb Space Telescope examined the Flame Nebula, a star-forming region 1,400 light-years away, to study low-mass brown dwarfs.
Brown dwarfs, often called 'failed stars,' are objects too small to sustain hydrogen fusion but larger than most planets.
Webb identified free-floating objects between two and three times Jupiter's mass but found none smaller, suggesting a lower mass limit for brown dwarf formation.
The study explored the fragmentation process in star formation, where molecular clouds break into smaller masses that may form stars or brown dwarfs.
These findings build on decades of Hubble data, with Webb's advanced infrared capabilities enabling unprecedented insights into low-mass objects in dense star-forming regions.