Weighing the Coldest Known Brown Dwarf Star
	Brown dwarf stars are the coldest class of failed stars in the universe, some of which weighing as little as 3 percent of the mass of the Sun, insufficient to start nuclear fusion reactions in their core, thus being unable to generate their own internal energy. Just like with gas giants, observations regarding the mass of such objects are critical for theoretical predictions, therefore with the help of the Hubble Space Telescope and the Ke ... [read more >>]
	03 June 2008, 04:18GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

MARVELS to Find Hundreds of Exoplanets
	Only a few decades ago, astronomers weren't even sure if other solar systems aside ours exist in the universe. Since then, a couple of hundreds of solar systems have been discovered, mostly composed of gas giants. When trying to learn about other solar systems, astronomers often make analogies to our own. If our solar system is so varied, imagine how fascinating other worlds could be. A new study set to start in the fall of ... [read more >>]
	10 May 2008, 07:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Experiment Recreates Conditions inside Gas Giants
	Very little is known about how high-temperature gas in a condensed state – such as the one inside giants like Jupiter, Saturn or other gas giant exoplanets in the galaxy – behaves. In order to get a better understanding of the evolution of gases in these exact thermodynamic conditions, a collaboration between the Laboratory of Laser Energetics, CEA France and University of California Berkeley generated an experiment that compressed helium ... [read more >>]
	29 April 2008, 05:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Link Between Stars and Planets Found
	Brown dwarfs, or failed stars, are stellar bodies with masses 10 to 70 times higher than Jupiter’s. Although, like all stars, they have the capability of initiating thermonuclear fusion reactions in their cores, their masses do not permit them to sustain these reactions for a very long time, unlike typical stars, such as our Sun, which are able to burn hydrogen through nuclear fusion reactions for several billion years. Canadian and Fr ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 02:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Giant Planet is Taking Shape in Star System
	The star system we talk about is located around a well-studied star known as AB Aurigae. The star is relatively young and surrounded by a disk of material created from a gas and dust cloud that seems to be forming some kind of object inside it, like the gas giant of a brown dwarf star. Co-author of the study, Ben R. Oppenheimer of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History argues that the object may have a mas ... [read more >>]
	27 March 2008, 05:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Methane Found on Distant Exo-Planet
	Another exo-planet found and yet another intriguing discovery! Astronomers reveal that an exo-planet detected back in 2005, located in a solar system in the Vulpecula constellation, 63 light-years away from Earth, has a methane-rich atmosphere. The planet dubbed HD 189733b is a gas giant relatively similar to Jupiter, orbiting its star from a close distance. Just last year, with the help of the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers[ADMA ... [read more >>]
	20 March 2008, 03:44GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia