Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified young brown dwarf candidates in the NGC 602 star cluster, located in the Small Magellanic Cloud, approximately 200,000 light-years from Earth. This discovery, detailed in a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, marks the first detection of brown dwarfs beyond our galaxy, offering insights into star formation in low metallicity environments.
NGC 602, a young star cluster about 2 to 3 million years old, is characterized by a low-density environment and a rich presence of ionized gas, indicating ongoing star formation. The JWST's advanced sensitivity allowed researchers to detect 64 brown dwarf candidates, which range from 0.05 to 0.08 solar masses (50-84 Jupiter masses). These objects are believed to have formed simultaneously with the main sequence stars in the cluster, suggesting a shared formation process.
Lead author Peter Zeidler from AURA/STScI for the European Space Agency highlighted the significance of using both JWST and the Hubble Space Telescope to study NGC 602. While Hubble identified young low-mass stars in the cluster, JWST provided a clearer picture of substellar mass formation.
The findings challenge existing theories about brown dwarf formation, suggesting they may form similarly to stars rather than through processes related to planets. The research team aims to further investigate the substellar mass function and its implications for understanding star formation dynamics in different cosmic environments.