A
celestial
body
found
three
decades
ago
has
now
been
identified
as
a
pair
of
brown
dwarfs
orbiting
each
other,
a
recent
study
has
revealed.
The
object,
previously
known
as
Gliese
229B,
was
the
first
brown
dwarf
discovered
30
years
ago.
Brown
dwarfs
are
considered
too
large
to
be
planets
yet
too
small
to
ignite
like
stars.
What
makes
this
discovery
unique
is
that
these
two
brown
dwarfs,
now
named
Gliese
229Ba
and
Gliese
229Bb,
circle
each
other
in
just
12
days,
much
faster
than
many
similar
objects.
Unexpected
Pairing
of
Brown
Dwarfs
For
years,
astronomers
were
puzzled
by
the
unusually
dim
appearance
of
Gliese
229B,
given
its
mass.
This
mystery
has
now
been
explained,
as
the
light
from
this
object
was
coming
from
two
separate
bodies
rather
than
one.
Using
the
Very
Large
Telescope
in
Chile,
scientists
collected
new
data
showing
that
what
appeared
to
be
a
single
brown
dwarf
is
actually
a
close-orbiting
pair.
Each
of
these
bodies
is
orbiting
a
small
star
about
18
light-years
away,
which
is
relatively
close
to
Earth
in
astronomical
terms.
Orbit
Shorter
than
the
Moon’s
While
astronomers
have
discovered
other
brown
dwarf
pairs
before,
the
Gliese
229Ba
and
Gliese
229Bb
pair
is
noteworthy
because
of
the
proximity
of
their
orbit.
The
twins
complete
their
orbits
around
each
other
every
12
days,
which
is
quicker
than
the
Moon‘s
journey
around
Earth.
“It’s
quite
unusual
to
see
brown
dwarfs
behaving
in
this
way,”
said
Rebecca
Oppenheimer,
co-author
of
the
study
from
the
American
Museum
of
Natural
History.
Could
More
Hidden
Brown
Dwarf
Twins
Exist?
The
findings
suggest
there
may
be
more
brown
dwarfs
with
hidden
companions
that
have
yet
to
be
discovered.
Jerry
Xuan
from
the
California
Institute
of
Technology,
another
co-author,
believes
this
could
change
our
understanding
of
how
these
objects
form
and
evolve.
This
discovery,
published
in
Nature,
provides
valuable
insights
into
the
diversity
of
objects
in
our
universe.
Here’s
how
the
article
would
look
in
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