Some stars have planets. Others orbit brown dwarfs, balls of gas that are too massive to be planets, but too low in mass to be stars. Astronomers love these pairs of brown dwarf stars because their pairing with a star helps reveal the age of the brown dwarf. Measuring the ages of astronomical objects is often difficult, but essential for understanding how they formed.
Now, you can join the new NASA Backyard Worlds: Dualities The project and help astronomers discover these rare and interesting pairs. As a volunteer, you will examine images from NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope (WISE). Brown dwarfs may appear as small dots moving across a field of fixed stars.
“We need your help to gain critical insights into these mysterious cosmic objects,” said project leader Aaron Messner.
Brown dwarfs are common but mysterious because they are so faint. There is one star for every three or four stars in our corner of the Milky Way. They are important laboratories for understanding giant planets such as Jupiter.
Join Backyard Worlds: Dualities Project today and help astronomers understand where and when brown dwarfs form! You can also try one of our other brown dwarf projects: Backyard Realms: Cool Neighbors! Anyone with a laptop or mobile phone can participate. Participation does not require citizenship in any particular country.
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