description Luhman 16 Overview
Luhman 16 is a nearby binary brown-dwarf system in the southern constellation Vela, about 6.5 light-years from the Sun. Also catalogued as WISE J104915.57-531906.1, it consists of two cool substellar objects whose masses are too low to sustain the hydrogen fusion that powers ordinary stars; its discovery in 2013 made it useful for studying brown-dwarf atmospheres and weather.
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What is Luhman 16?
Luhman 16 is a nearby binary system made of two brown dwarfs in the constellation Vela. It is about 6.5 light-years from the Sun and is also catalogued as WISE J104915.57-531906.1.
Why does Luhman 16 have a WISE catalogue name?
The system was identified in data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE. The discovery was reported in 2013, and the name Luhman 16 honors astronomer Kevin Luhman.
Why are the objects in Luhman 16 called brown dwarfs instead of stars?
Their masses are too low to sustain the hydrogen fusion that powers ordinary stars. They occupy an intermediate category between the most massive planets and the least massive stars.
Is Luhman 16 one object or two?
It contains two bound brown dwarfs, conventionally called Luhman 16A and Luhman 16B. Their binary nature makes the system useful for comparing the atmospheres and evolution of two nearby substellar objects.
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