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The Question
(Submitted October 18, 1998)
What are Brown Dwarfs?
The Answer
Brown dwarfs are small-size objects, believed to result from
condensations of fragments of molecular clouds.
A brown dwarf has a small mass, too low to ignite nuclear
fusion. Such a star, would be small, not much larger than Jupiter, and
warm from its contraction.
It would emit copious infrared radiation, thus the name "brown dwarf".
You can check the following site on brown dwarfs:
http://astro.berkeley.edu/~stars/bdwarfs/formtnbd.html
http://www.amsci.org/amsci/articles/97articles/mhowmany.html
Eric Christian for
for Ask an Astrophysicist
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