Science / Medicine : The Hunt for ‘Brown Dwarfs’

Astronomers have spotted nine objects that may be “brown dwarfs”--lumps of gas more massive than planets--which scientists believe exist but have not yet confirmed, according to William Forrest of the University of Rochester in New York. The objects do not appear to be in orbit around stars, where astronomers had first looked for brown dwarfs, he reported last week at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Their apparent independence from stars bolsters the idea that brown dwarfs may help explain a key mystery of the cosmos--the missing mass problem.

According to theory, there are lumps of gas in the universe that failed to become stars because the internal nuclear reaction that makes stars shine did not take place. They could still shine a little because of energy created as their gas collapses under its own gravity.

Studies show that outer space contains more matter than scientists have observed, and nobody knows what form this missing mass takes. Part of it may be brown dwarfs. If brown dwarfs exist, they would be hard to spot because they would be so dim.