Physicists discover rare brown dwarf, essential for testing theoretical models

A team led by Justin Crepp, the Frank M. Freimann Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Notre Dame, has discovered a rare brown dwarf, a faint object with properties in between that of a star and planet. In addition to taking its picture for the first time, Crepp's team also determined the brown dwarf's mass, age and composition--essential information that can be used to "benchmark" the study of these elusive objects.