images

Brown dwarf with a large debris ring

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

a-eto99-00106

Date

2009-02-10

This imaginary high-mass brown dwarf has a larger disk than the previous renderings. The perspective is from the equator of an airless planet, orbiting the brown dwarf at a distance of about 4 million miles. This planet's orbit is very nearly aligned to the plane of the rings, hence the debris appears as a sword-like straight line.