In 1995, astronomers confirmed the discovery for the first time of a brown dwarf, a body too small to be a star and too big to be a planet - sort of a celestial tweener. But it turns out that was not the full story.

Scientists have puzzled over the object known as Gliese 229B, the first known brown dwarf discovered 30 years ago. Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars because they're lighter than stars, but heavier than gas giant planets.

Hundreds of papers have been written about the first known brown dwarf, Gliese 229B, since its discovery by Caltech researchers at the Institute's Palomar Observatory in 1995. But a pressing mystery has persisted about this orb: It is too dim for its mass.

Scientists have been observing a brown dwarf for decades, and now they have discovered that it is actually two dwarfs circling each other.

Astronomers resolve longstanding mystery of Gliese 229B's dimness, despite its considerable mass. A Caltech-led team discovered that the brown dwarf is actually a close binary system, consisting of two brown dwarfs orbiting each other.

Both teams captured clearer pictures of what the double brown dwarf was doing through newer, higher-resolution telescopes. How and why the twins formed is still a mystery. Some th

A long-standing mystery that puzzled astronomers for decades has been finally solved. The “first known brown dwarf,” Gliese 229B, always seemed a bit off. Too dim for its mass, it defied expectations.