Citizen scientists help create 'most complete' 3D map of brown dwarfs in Milky Way
Telescopes can detect brown dwarfs because they emit heat in the form of infrared light, left over from their formation.
Jan 25, 2021 19:28:31 IST
Citizen scientists from NASA-funded Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 have now managed to create the 'most complete' three-dimensional map of 525 brown dwarfs in our cosmic Milky Way neighbourhood. The brown dwarfs are objects that are balls of gas not heavy enough to be stars, since they cannot power themselves through nuclear fusion the way stars do, according to a
statement from NASA. While they are named brown dwarfs, they appear magenta or orange-red if a person could see them close up.