images

Brown dwarf with asteroid ring

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

a-eto99-00105

Date

2009-02-10

This brown dwarf is host to a disk composed primarily of asteroids and boulders. The light from this dwarf is barely enough to illuminate the surface of this primitive planet. At a distance of about 1.5 million miles, the orbit of this planet is aligned to the plane of the rings with the result that they appear as a fuzzy line occulting the glowing face of this brown dwarf.