Tiny Brown Dwarf's Disk May Form Miniature Solar System

Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, a team of astronomers led by Kevin Luhman (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) has discovered a protoplanetary disk around a surprisingly low-mass brown dwarf. This remarkable finding raises the possibility of planet formation around objects that themselves have planetary masses. Moreover, the presence of a disk suggests that terrestrial planets could form and thrive orbiting an object too small to shine via nuclear fusion.