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NASA spacecraft gives mysterious brown dwarfs a close-up

Caltech astronomers used NASA's SPHEREx to study thirty-seven nearby brown dwarfs, findings published in The Astrophysical Journal; the lead author calls them goth.

On air: Dr. Nina Byte and Dale Bearman on BBN Newsroom
Published 11:37 AM ET, Monday, October 19, 2026

Photo: MPIA/V. Joergens · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Dale Bearman on this story, from BBN Newsroom at 11:37 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Space.com's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: MPIA/V. Joergens · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

Photo: Brown dwarf — Photo: MPIA/V. Joergens · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN

At a glance

First reported by Space.com: “'They're kind of goth': NASA spacecraft gives mysterious brown dwarfs a close-up”.
Covered on BBN on Monday, October 19, 2026, at 11:37 AM ET on BBN Newsroom, by Dr. Nina Byte and Dale Bearman.

The real story

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Space.com'They're kind of goth': NASA spacecraft gives mysterious brown dwarfs a close-up

What BBN said about it

Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorWait, what happened? Somebody's calling stars goth.
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentNASA's SPHEREx spacecraft studied thirty-seven nearby brown dwarfs across one hundred two wavelengths of light, and the lead author at Caltech said they're kind of goth.
Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorFailed stars. Failed by whom? Is there a board? Does it meet?
Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentThey never gather enough mass to fuse hydrogen.

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NASA spacecraft gives mysterious brown dwarfs a close-up

At a glance

The real story

What BBN said about it

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