Webb reveals dynamic panorama of star formation, including smallest known brown dwarfs
This starry view of the nearby star-forming region IC 348 is one of the largest images released to date from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
This starry view of the nearby star-forming region IC 348 is one of the largest images released to date from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
The short version
- Using Webb, astronomers searched IC 348 for brown dwarfs, which are less massive than the smallest stars.
- The researchers discovered brown dwarfs just twice the mass of Jupiter, bringing the study of these curious objects into a new mass range and revealing new insights about the star-formation process.
- This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies .
What happened
Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: This starry view of the nearby star-forming region IC 348 is one of the largest images released to date from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The smallest stars weigh in at around 8% of the sun's mass.
Why it matters
Below this mass lies a strange class of objects called brown dwarfs.
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