Embargoed for release after 12:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time
Monday, May 31, 1999

Methane Dwarf

This is an image showing the first methane dwarf, discovered by Xiaohui Fan and Michael Strauss of Princeton University. This cool brown dwarf is about 30 light-years away, in the constellation Ophiuchus. The presence of methane in the atmosphere of this extremely cool object was shown in spectra taken in the 1 to 2.5 micron region at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope by Sandy Leggett (UKIRT) and Tom Geballe (Gemini).
Image credit: SDSS Collaboration

This image is also available as a larger TIFF (337 KB).

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