Jul 20 2000
From The Space Library
The 20 July 2000 edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters published research of Gibor Basri chronicling the first sighting of a flare from a failed star, or brown dwarf. Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley had spotted the brown dwarf and its bright x-ray flare. Scientists believed that examining the x-ray flare would help them better understand dying stars and the explosive activity and magnetic fields of low-mass stars. Early analyses indicated that the brown dwarf s x-ray flare was approximately 1 billion times more powerful than the x-ray flares emitted from the planet Jupiter. Scientists reacted to news of the discovery with excitement and surprise. Robert E. Rutledge of California Institute of Technology stated that he and his colleagues were "shocked," clarifying: "we did not expect to see flaring from such a lightweight object. This is really the mouse that roared." The task of spotting an x-ray flare had been difficult, because the brown dwarf emitted the flares only periodically. However, the intermittent flares made the successful capture of an image all the more significant. The observation of the brown dwarfs occasional release of x-ray flares confirmed the theory that brown dwarfs only release energy when they heat to temperatures above 4,500°F (2,500°C).
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