Too small to be a star, too large to be a planet: what’s up with brown dwarfs? That was the topic of our most recent Space Talk, held on Oct. 6, 2022 at LSC After Dark.

For this Space Talk, we were joined by Dr. Emily Rice, professor of astronomy at City University of New York, in the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium. Dr. Rice is, among many other things, an expert on the small but mighty class of objects called brown dwarfs.

Brown dwarfs are too small to be stars, but still are a bit too large to be classified as planets. During her presentation, Dr. Rice explored what makes these objects so fascinating and how they have helped us understand planets throughout our galaxy. Using the largest planetarium in America, Dr. Rice simulated the formation of a brown dwarf, and identified the locations of the hundreds we’ve discovered so far.

See more in this video clip from the presentation below:

You can also watch the FULL presentation in 360° below:

LSC After Dark’s Space Talk presentations will be off for a break on Nov. 3, but we’ll be back with the next one on Dec. 1! Click here to learn more.

brown dwarfs,  Dr. Emily Rice,  Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium,  space,  Space Talk