astronomy

List of brown dwarfs

List of brown dwarfs is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of brown dwarfs rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of notable brown dwarfs. These are objects that have masses between heavy gas giants and low-mass stars.

Key takeaways

List of brown dwarfs belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of brown dwarfs to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of brown dwarfs from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of notable brown dwarfs. These are objects that have masses between heavy gas giants and low-mass stars. The first isolated brown dwarf discovered was Teide 1 in 1995. The first brown dwarf discovered orbiting a star was Gliese 229 B, also discovered in 1995. The first brown dwarf found to have a planet was 2M1207, discovered in 2004. As of 2015, more than 2,800 brown dwarfs have been identified. An isolated object with less than about 13 Jupiter masses is technically a sub-brown dwarf or rogue planet. Because the mass of a brown dwarf is between that of a planet and that of a star, they have also been called planetars or hyperjovians. Various catalog designations have been used to name brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs with names ending in a letter such as B, C, or D are in orbit around a primary star; those with names ending in a lower-case letter such as b, c, or d, may be exoplanets (see Exoplanet naming convention). Some exoplanets, especially those detected by radial velocity, can turn out to be brown dwarfs if their mass is higher than originally thought: most have only known minimum masses because the inclination of their orbit is not known. Examples include HD 114762 b (>11.68 MJ), Pi Mensae b (>10.312 MJ), and NGC 2423-3 b (>10.6 MJ). A complete list of more than 3,000 ultracool dwarfs, which includes brown dwarfs and low-mass stars, is being maintained by astronomers. It is called the UltracoolSheet. The same team also produced a list of 1,000 ultracool dwarfs with their mass being determined.

Confirmed brown dwarfs orbiting primary stars

Sorted by increasing right ascension of the parent star. Brown dwarfs within a system sorted by increasing orbital period. Some brown dwarfs listed could still be massive planets.

Confirmed brown dwarf orbiting stellar remnants A stellar remnant can be for example a white dwarf, a pulsar or a black hole. Objects with a mass of a brown dwarf, but with a history of mass-transfer might not be brown dwarfs. If they exist as a period bouncer around a white dwarf they are thought to once have been stars and are today "brown dwarf-like objects". Objects around black widow pulsars on the other hand are thought to be white dwarfs that lost mass to the pulsar and therefore will differ in composition and density compared to brown dwarfs. This list is sorted after the discovery year.

Unconfirmed brown dwarfs

Sorted by increasing right ascension of the parent star. Brown dwarfs within a system sorted by increasing orbital period. Some brown dwarfs listed could still be massive planets.

Field brown dwarfs

Data updated from and merged from previous tables

Former brown dwarfs

See also Lists of astronomical objects List of exoplanets

References

External links "Extrasolar Visions: Brown dwarfs". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-25. "Interactive Extrasolar-Planets Catalogue". Archived from the original on November 27, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-25.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of brown dwarfs

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of brown dwarfs claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of brown dwarfs before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of brown dwarfs ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of brown dwarfs

In research: List of brown dwarfs appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of brown dwarfs in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of brown dwarfs is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Binary stars, Brown dwarfs, Lists of stars, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of brown dwarfs outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of brown dwarfs in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of brown dwarfs means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of brown dwarfs out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of brown dwarfs in simple terms?

This is a list of notable brown dwarfs. These are objects that have masses between heavy gas giants and low-mass stars.

Why does List of brown dwarfs matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of brown dwarfs?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of brown dwarfs.