Spanning the gap between large planets and small stars lies an astronomical gray area. This is the domain of brown dwarfs, dim stellar cinders glowing faintly in the darkness. And a binary pair of these stars has just been discovered only 6.5 light-years away, making it the third closest star system to our own.
Star system WISE J104915.57-531906 was announced officially just a few days ago. The tiny star system, orbiting each other once every 25 years, with a separation of 3 AU, was discovered by Kevin Luhman, a researcher at Penn State’s Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds. It is, in fact, the closest star system to be discovered since Barnard’s Star was found in 1916!
Full article: http://news.discover … -doorstep-130315.htm
