Brown Dwarves- What are they?

Brown dwarves are one of the most enigmatic items in the "known" universe. Brown dwarves are some of the most numerous objects in the known universe, however, they are the least understood. These objects have been termed the "little stars that couldn't"*, which may be a very good name for these items.

In order to understand this comment about brown dwarves, it is necessary to understand how stars form. Visit the star birth page to read this and hit your browser back button to come back here.

Brown dwarves are proto-stars that did not have enough mass to enable fusion to begin upon contraction. They are give off a small amount of light due to their heat and the principle known as blackbody radiation. Their heat is a product of gravity causing the gas comprising the body to compress. The faint glow they emit can go on for millions or even billions of years as they cool.

There have been some discoveries of brown dwarves around distant stars in the last few years. Teide 1 in the Pleiades was one recent discovery. G196-3 has a companion that is a brown dwarf. 

* from August, 1999 issue of Astronomy