Research papers or official announcements from astronomy organizations

Astronomers Discover Gliese 229B is a Binary System of Brown Dwarfs Orbiting Cool Star

Oct 18, 2024, 06:23 PM

Astronomers have discovered that Gliese 229B, previously thought to be a single brown dwarf, is actually a pair of closely orbiting brown dwarfs, Gliese 229Ba and Gliese 229Bb. This binary system resolves previous confusion about its low brightness for its mass. The discovery was documented in two new studies conducted with telescopes in Chile and Hawaii. The cool brown dwarf pair orbits a cool star, as detailed in a Nature research paper.