dwarf star news stories on Newser

Scientists Spot End of World

Rob Quinn — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:50:00 CDT

Astronomers looking at dead stars trillions of miles away believe they have glimpsed Earth's eventual fate, the Times of London reports. The scientists found that many white dwarfs—stars that swelled, burned out, and collapsed—are surrounded by a dust they think is the remnants of planets like ours destroyed...

Scientists Find Cold Dwarf Star

Mary Papenfuss — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:51:03 CDT

Scientists are over the moon with the discovery of a cold brown dwarf in the Cetus constellation. The star-like body, spotted by a British team using the UKIRT telescope in Hawaii, is the coldest of its kind ever seen, the BBC reports, tipping thermometers at just 800 degrees F, a...

Earth-Like Planet Could Sustain Life

Colleen Barry — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:29:32 CDT

Astronomers have discovered a planet that can sustain liquid water, the prerequisite for life as we understand it. Named Gliese 581 C, the new planet orbits a red dwarf star in what's called the "Goldilocks zone"—not so close that water melts, and not so far that it freezes.