Closest Brown Dwarf Companion Ever Spotted Around a Star Provokes New Perspective

This discovery image from the Gemini Observatory represents the closest brown dwarf companion ever directly imaged around a star (named LHS 2397a). This image was obtained on Feb. 7, 2002 with the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii using the University of Hawaii's Adaptive Optics system Hokupa`a and the QUIRC infrared imager. The resolution of the image is 0.1 arcseconds (equal to the size of a quarter held 32 miles away). The companion is so faint and red that it must have a cool "L7" atmosphere and is therefore only massive enough to be a brown dwarf.