Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
We report the discovery of the coolest field dwarf yet known, selected as a stellar object with extremely red colors from commissioning imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Its spectrum from 0. 8 to 2. 5 microns is dominated by strong bands of H₂ O and CH₄. Its spectrum and colors over this range are very similar to those of Gliese 229B, the only other known example of a methane dwarf. It is roughly 1. 2 mag fainter than Gliese 229B, implying that it lies at a distance of roughly 10 pc. Such a cool object must have a mass well below the hydrogen-burning limit of 0. 08 solar masses, and therefore is a genuine brown dwarf, with a probable mass in the range 0. 015-0. 06 solar masses for an age range of 0. 3-5 Gyr.
Strauss et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: