[henkster]

Are brown dwarfs considered to be dark matter?

[sinanju]

I believe a brown dwarf was floated as part of the “Death Star” hypothesis in the eighties. Concerning a brown dwarf whose distant orbit periodically sent mass amounts of comets from the Oort cloud into the solar system, resulting in earth impacts and periodic mass extinctions.

[Yossarian]

What? An article about brown dwarfs without some input from Dr. Amy Mainzer, "WISE Deputy Project Scientist", and Brown Dwarf Expert?!?

Well, I would never presume to know what she'd say on the subject, so all I can do is post a picture or three of her here:

Dr. Amy Mainzer, WISE Deputy Project Scientist

You can read Dr. Mainzer's blog, currently covering the WISE launch, here.

There, I felt like I just righted a wrong.... (well, and maybe accumulated evidence for a future restraining order - but hey, if you get one, it should be earned!)

[dr_who]

Cool beans. Infrared can be fun. Bound to give manned space exploration a shot in the arm. Anyone have a fast interstellar ship handy?

[Verginius Rufus]

Wow. A thread with the title “The Closest Dwarf” turns out to be about astronomy and not about Tom Daschle.

[SunkenCiv]

A brown dwarf out there waiting to be discovered may not be unknown for long. In fact, we may well be no more than a few years away from finding it. The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission is set for a November 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base and should be able to put the matter to rest.

"That's the third pair I've brown dwarf today!"

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