Meet the cosmic object going from zero to astronomical hero

Dr Mohanty talks with the New Scientist

As if space wasn't lonely enough, pity the brown dwarf. Compared with their stellar siblings, these astronomical objects are something of a failure. And while they have much in common with planets, they don't seem to fit in there either. This awkward status as cosmic in-betweener means brown dwarfs are often overshadowed by their flashier counterparts, such as alien worlds or fiery supernovae. Yet not fitting in is precisely what makes brown dwarfs far more interesting and useful than we once thought… Perhaps the most tantalising revelation is that brown dwarfs can be accompanied by planets. Indeed, last month a team of astronomers claimed to have found the first known planet orbiting a brown dwarf. The planet is roughly twice the mass of Jupiter. 'It's quite possible that planets may form around brown dwarfs by standard planet-formation mechanisms,' says Dr Subhanjoy Mohanty of Imperial College London.