NASA's WISE Data Reveals Stars With Temperatures as Cool as the Human Body
Posted on August 30, 2011
Scientists using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) discovered the coldest class of star-like bodies. These stars, called Y dwarfs, have temperatures as cool as the human body. The image above is an artist's conception of what a Y dwarf might look like.
"WISE scanned the entire sky for these and other objects, and was able to spot their feeble light with its highly sensitive infrared vision," said Jon Morse, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They are 5,000 times brighter at the longer infrared wavelengths WISE observed from space than those observable from the ground."
The Y's are the coldest members of the brown dwarf family. So far, WISE data have revealed 100 new brown dwarfs. Of the 100 brown dwarfs, six are classified as cool Y's. One of the Y dwarfs, called WISE 1828+2650, is the record holder for the coldest brown dwarf, with an estimated atmospheric temperature cooler than room temperature, or less than about 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
Michael Cushing, a WISE team member at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says, "Finding brown dwarfs near our sun is like discovering there's a hidden house on your block that you didn't know about. It's thrilling to me to know we've got neighbors out there yet to be discovered. With WISE, we may even find a brown dwarf closer to us than our closest known star."