Astronomers Solve 30-Year Mystery of Brown Dwarf Gliese 229 B

After nearly three decades of confusion, astronomers have uncovered the true nature of the mysterious brown dwarf Gliese 229 B, first discovered in 1995. Once believed to be a single failed star, new research reveals that it is actually a pair of closely orbiting brown dwarfs, now named Gliese 229 Ba and Gliese 229 Bb.

Brown dwarfs, often referred to as "failed stars," are objects not massive enough to sustain hydrogen fusion like stars. Gliese 229 B had perplexed scientists due to its unusually low brightness relative to its mass. However, by using advanced instruments at the Very Large Telescope in Chile, scientists were able to detect that Gliese 229 B consists of two brown dwarfs with masses of 38 and 34 times that of Jupiter. These two objects orbit each other every 12 days, separated by just 3.8 million miles — around 16 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

This discovery resolves the long-standing mystery of why Gliese 229 B appeared dimmer than expected. The finding also raises new questions about how such tightly bound brown dwarf pairs form, offering fresh insights into the nature of these elusive objects. Scientists now believe that other similar systems may be waiting to be found in the Milky Way.