Thread: Possible small solar system found 500 light years away

NASA thinks they may have found a solar system around a brown dwarf that's 1/100th the size of our sun.

I found this interesting, and a little unclear. I'm not sure whether they mean that the solar system is small in the sense that there are few things orbiting this star, or that it is small in the sense that the planets that formed around this small star are small, or both.

Here's a link to the story for anyone interested:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051130/...y_solar_system

would a star such as that be warm enough to enable life to exist? if an earth-like planet was close enough (maybe 100 times closer as its 100 times smaller than the sun) would that mimmick similar conditions as on earth?

Life Jim, but not as we know it.
A close in orbiting planet, especially one subject to tidal heat generation as a consequence of orbital distance and tidal lock would potentially contain liquid water. Microbial life could arise, but the possibility of advanced life seems very remote.

Silkworm, I think the reference to size was probably related to total planetary mass.

Hmm, they don't give the ID for the star. Would like to have tried to view it...just because.

It's a brown dwarf (In)sanity. You have damn all chance of seeing it.

Originally Posted by Ophiolite

It's a brown dwarf (In)sanity. You have damn all chance of seeing it.

Ahhh good point.