A size comparison between our
Sun, a young sub-
brown dwarf, and
Jupiter. As the sub-brown dwarf ages, it will gradually cool and shrink.
A sub-brown dwarf is a planetary-mass object whose mass is smaller than the low-mass cut-off for brown dwarfs (around 13 times the mass of Jupiter). Unlike proper brown dwarfs, they are not massive enough to fuse deuterium.
Failed brown dwarfs
Sub-brown dwarfs are formed in the manner of stars, through the collapse of a gas cloud, and not through accretion or core collapse from a circumstellar disc. The distinction between a sub-brown dwarf and a planet is unclear; astronomers are divided into two camps as whether to consider the formation process of a planet as part of its division in classification.[1]
Interstellar objects
An alternate definition involves the same mass range (less than a brown dwarf, but in the planetary range), but is free of gravitational attachment with any star. These are generally referred to as Rogue planets. This usage is in the IAU Extrasolar Planets provisional definition of a planet.[2]
List of suspected sub-brown dwarfs
See also
References
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