Two Maunakea Telescopes Confirm First Brown Dwarf Discovered by Radio Observations
Observing Clusters of Galaxies Collide
November 17, 2020
Blast from the Past!
December 8, 2020
Artist’s impression of the cold brown dwarf BDR J1750+3809. The blue loops depict the magnetic field lines. Charged particles moving along these lines emit radio waves that LOFAR detected. Some particles eventually reach the poles and generate aurorae similar to the northern lights on Earth. Credit: ASTRON/Danielle Futselaar
For the first time, astronomers have combined observations from a large radio telescope (known as LOFAR) in Europe and two telescopes on Maunakea – the IRTF and Gemini – to discover and investigate a cold brown dwarf, or failed star. This is the first such object to be discovered through radio observations — until now, brown dwarfs have always been uncovered in large infrared and optical surveys. In addition to paving the way for future brown dwarf discoveries, this result illustrates how radio and optical/infrared telescopes can complement each other and paint a more complete picture of the Universe. Astronomers describe science like this, that uses observations in multiple parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, as Multi-Messenger Astronomy.
Read more, in the Gemini Observatory press release.
Related posts
Conceptual image. By observing a comet in thermal infrared wavelengths, the same wavelengths used by noncontact thermometers, it is possible to determine not only its current temperature, but also the surface composition of the nucleus which contains information about the thermal history of the comet. (Credit: Kyoto Sangyo University)
A view of the M87 supermassive black hole in polarized light. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole released in 2019, has today a new view of the massive object Pōwehi at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarized light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of a black hole.This image shows the polarized view of the black hole in M87. The lines mark the orientation of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole. Credit: EHT