Failed Stars: The Formation of Brown Dwarfs
The formation of these dim objects could allow astronomers to figure out how external conditions affect stellar development.
In early astronomy, our understanding of a star was relatively simple. That was until 1995, when astronomers confirmed the first discovery of a brown dwarf, a type of object formed when a protostar fails to gain enough mass to start nuclear fusion in its core.
Recently, direct observations of a brown dwarf forming have allowed astronomers to confirm the connection between stars and brown dwarfs. This new research could make studying stellar formation easier by allowing astronomers to compare the external conditions surrounding the growth of stars and brown dwarfs.
How brown dwarfs help us understand stellar formation
The same stellar nurseries of interstellar gas and dust that birth new stars also birth many brown dwarfs. These smaller “failed stars” can provide insight into how newborn stars are fed by their host clouds. New research published in March of this year confirmed that brown dwarfs form similarly to Sun-like stars but failed to gather enough mass to become a star due to external factors.
