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At least 253 records · Page 14

X ray observations of late-type stars using the ROSAT all-sky survey

The ROSAT mission made the first x ray survey of the entire sky using an imaging detector. Although ROSAT is a joint NASA/German project and involves direct American participation during its second phase of pointed observations, the all-sky survey remains the sole property of the German investigators. NASA grant represented the first use of ROSAT data analysis funds to support direct American participation in the ROSAT all-sky survey. The project involved a collaborative agreement between the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) and the Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE) where JILA supplied MPE with a post-doctoral research associate with experience in the field of stellar (coronal) x ray emission to work within their ROSAT group. In return, members of the cool star research group at JILA were given the opportunity to collaborate on projects involving ROSAT all-sky survey data. Both sides have benefitted (and still benefit) from this arrangement since MPE suffers from a shortage of researchers who are interested in x ray emission from 'normal' stars and white dwarfs. MPE has also drawn upon experience in optical identification of x ray sources from the Einstein Extended Medium Sensitivity Survey in planning their own identification strategies for the ROSAT all-sky survey. The JILA cool stars group has benefitted since access to all-sky survey data has expanded the scope of their already extensive research programs involving multiwavelength observations of late-type stars. ROSAT was successfully launched on 1 June 1990 and conducted the bulk of the survey from 30 July 1990 to 25 January 1991. Data gaps in the survey have subsequently been made up. At the time of this writing (February 1992), the survey data have been processed once with the Standard Analysis Software System (SASS). A second processing will soon begin with improvements made to the SASS to correct errors and bugs found while carrying out scientific projects with data from the first processing. We outline the major research activities of Dr. Fleming over the past year (detailed accounts of his activities during the first two years of this grant can be found in the first-year and second-year status reports on this grant). Regarding the three specific projects which were proposed in the original proposal, two of them (White Dwarfs and Late M Dwarfs) are near completion. The results are described in two conference proceedings which are appended.

Linsky, Jeffrey L.↗

Extreme ultraviolet observations of G191-B2B and the local interstellar medium with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope

During the Astro-l mission in 1990 December, the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT) was used to observe the extreme ultraviolet spectrum (415-912 A) of the hot DA white dwarf GI91-B2B. Absorption by neutral helium shortward of the 504 A He I absorption edge is clearly detected in the raw spectrum. Model fits to the observed spectrum require interstellar neutral helium and neutral hydrogen column densities of 1.45 +/- 0.065 x 10 exp 17/sq cm and 1.69 +/- 0.12 x 10 exp 18/sq cm, respectively. Comparison of the neutral columns yields a direct assessment of the ionization state of the local interstellar cloud surrounding the Sun. The neutral hydrogen to helium ratio of 11.6 +/- 1.0 observed by HUT strongly contradicts the widespread view that hydrogen is much more ionized than helium in the local interstellar medium, a view which has motivated some exotic theoretical explanations for the supposed high ionization.

Kimble, Randy A.↗

A XMM-Newton Observation of Nova LMC 1995, a Bright Supersoft X-ray Source

Nova LMC 1995, previously detected during 1995-1998 with ROSAT, was observed again as a luminous supersoft X-ray source with XMM-Newton in December of 2000. This nova offers the possibility to observe the spectrum of a hot white dwarf, burning hydrogen in a shell and not obscured by a wind or by nebular emission like in other supersoft X-ray sources. Notwithstanding uncertainties in the calibration of the EPIC instruments at energy E<0.5 keV, using atmospheric models in Non Local Thermonuclear Equilibrium we derived an effective temperature in the range 400,000-450,000 K, a bolometric luminosity Lbolabout equal to 2.3 times 10 sup37 erg s sup-l, and we verified that the abundance of carbon is not significantly enhanced in the X-rays emitting shell. The RGS grating spectra do not show emission lines (originated in a nebula or a wind) observed for some other supersoft X-ray sources. The crowded atmospheric absorption lines of the white dwarf cannot be not resolved. There is no hard component (expected from a wind, a surrounding nebula or an accretion disk), with no counts above the background at E>0.6 keV, and an upper limit Fx,hard = 10 sup-14 erg s sup-l cm sup-2 to the X-ray flux above this energy. The background corrected count rate measured by the EPIC instruments was variable on time scales of minutes and hours, but without the flares or sudden obscuration observed for other novae. The power spectrum shows a peak at 5.25 hours, possibly due to a modulation with the orbital period. We also briefly discuss the scenarios in which this nova may become a type Ia supernova progenitor.

Orio, Marina↗

Hunting for Polluted White Dwarfs and Other Treasures with Gaia XP Spectra and Unsupervised Machine Learning

White dwarfs (WDs) polluted by exoplanetary material provide the unprecedented opportunity to directly observe the interiors of exoplanets. However, spectroscopic surveys are often limited by brightness constraints, and WDs tend to be very faint, making detections of large populations of polluted WDs difficult. In this paper, we aim to increase considerably the number of WDs with multiple metals in their atmospheres. Using 96,134 WDs with Gaia DR3 BP/RP (XP) spectra, we constructed a 2D map using an unsupervised machine-learning technique called Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP) to organize the WDs into identifiable spectral regions. The polluted WDs are among the distinct spectral groups identified in our map. We have shown that this selection method could potentially increase the number of known WDs with five or more metal species in their atmospheres by an order of magnitude. Such systems are essential for characterizing exoplanet diversity and geology.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Luminosities and masses for three central stars of planetary nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds from ultraviolet spectroscopy with the IUE

Physical parameters of the central stars of the planetary nebulae (PN) P40, N2, and N5 are determined from UV observations by the IUE spacecraft and emission line-data. The observations took place on May 23 and 26, 1981. Derived properties, such as the H-beta, color excess, nebular hydrogen emission, helium emission, and stellar continuum emission, the stellar radius, surface gravity, Zanstra temperature, luminosity, absolute bolometric magnitude, apparent visual magnitude, mass, and Zanstra parameter for the three PN central stars are presented. All the masses were over one solar mass, suggesting a specific PN nuclei mass. The finding was corroborated by all luminosities exceeding the Eddington luminosity for a 0.6 solar mass star, which has previously been calculated for the white dwarf core of a PN.

Stecher, T. P.↗

H I properties of dwarf irregular galaxies in the Virgo Cluster

A neutral hydrogen survey was carried out at Arecibo on 91 dwarf irregular galaxies, with morphological types Sdm through Im, in and around the direction of the Virgo Cluster. Only nine of these were found to be background galaxies, and 19 remain undetected, i.e., most of the candidate galaxies are indeed members of the Virgo Cluster or Supercluster. The distribution of positions and systemic velocities (compared with large spirals) shows no evidence for mass segregation. The H I depletion for dwarfs in the cluster core is only moderate, no more than for spirals. The magnitude-velocity width correlation is continous from spirls to dwarfs. Satistics on H I masses agree only partially with a simple stochastic star formation model.

Hoffman, G. L.↗

Precision X-ray Timing of RX J0806.3+1527 with CHANDRA: Evidence for Gravitational Radiation from an Ultracompact Binary

RX J0806.3+1527 is a candidate double degenerate binary with possibly the shortest known orbital period. The source shows an approximately equal to 100% X-ray intensity modulation at the putative orbital frequency of 3.11 mHz (321.5 s). If the system is a detached, ultracompact binary gravitational radiation should drive spin-up with a magnitude of nu(sup dot) approximately 10(exp -16) Hz per second. Efforts to constrain the X-ray frequency evolution to date have met with mixed success, principally due to the sparseness of earlier observations. Here we describe the results of the first phase coherent X-ray monitoring campaign on RX J0806.3+1527 with Chandra. We obtained a total of 70 ksec of exposure in 6 epochs logarithmically spaced over 320 days. With these data we conclusively show that the X-ray frequency is increasing at a rate of 3.77 plus or minus 0.8 x 10(exp -16) Hz per second. Using the ephemeris derived from the new data we are able to phase up all the earlier Chandra and ROSAT data and show they are consistent with a constant nu(sup dot) = 3.63 plus or minus 0.06 x 10(exp -16) Hz per second over the past decade. This value appears consistent with that recently derived by Israel et al. largely from monitoring of the optical modulation, and is in rough agreement with the solutions reported initially by Hakala et al., based on ground-based optical observations. The large and stable nu(sup dot) over a decade is consistent with gravitational radiation losses driving the evolution. An intermediate polar (IP) scenario where the observed X-ray period is the spin period of an accreting white dwarf appears less tenable because the observed nu(sup dot) requires an m(sup dot) approximately equal to 4 x 10 (exp -8) solar mass yr(sup -l), that is much larger than that inferred from the observed X-ray luminosity (although this depends on the uncertain distance and bolometric corrections), and it is difficult to drive such a high m(sup dot) in a binary system with parameters consistent with all the multiwavelength data. If the ultracompact scenario is correct, then the X-ray flux cannot be powered by stable accretion which would drive the components apart, suggesting a new type of energy source (perhaps electromagnetic) may power the X-ray flux.

Strohymayer, Tod E.↗

Spectroscopic Orbits of 11 Nearby, Mid-to-late M-dwarf Binaries

We present the spectroscopic orbits of 11 nearby, mid-to-late M dwarf binary systems in a variety of configurations: 2 single-lined binaries (SB1s), 7 double-lined binaries (SB2s), 1 double-lined triple (ST2), and 1 triple-lined triple (ST3). Eight of these orbits are the first published for these systems, while five are newly identified multiples. We obtained multi-epoch, high-resolution spectra with the TRES instrument on the 1.5 m Tillinghast Reflector at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory located on Mt. Hopkins in AZ. Using the TiO molecular bands at 7065–7165 Å, we calculated radial velocities for these systems, from which we derived their orbits. We find LHS 1817 to have in a 7 hr period a companion that is likely a white dwarf, due to the ellipsoidal modulation we see in our MEarth-North light-curve data. We find G 123-45 and LTT 11586 to host companions with minimum masses of 41 M {sub Jup} and 44 M {sub Jup} with orbital periods of 35 and 15 days, respectively. We find 2MA 0930+0227 to have a rapidly rotating stellar companion in a 917 day orbital period. GJ 268, GJ 1029, LP 734-34, GJ 1182, G 258-17, and LTT 7077are SB2s with stellar companions with orbital periods of 10, 96, 34, 154, 5, and 84 days; LP 655-43 is an ST3 with one companion in an 18 day orbital period and an outer component in a longer undetermined period. In addition, we present radial velocities for both components of L 870-44AB and for the outer components of LTT 11586 and LP 655-43.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Performance Verification of the EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph

The EXtreme PREcision Spectrograph (EXPRES) is a new Doppler spectrograph designed to reach a radial-velocity measurement precision sufficient to detect Earth-like exoplanets orbiting nearby, bright stars. We report on extensive laboratory testing and on-sky observations to quantitatively assess the instrumental radial-velocity measurement precision of EXPRES, with a focused discussion of individual terms in the instrument error budget. We find that EXPRES can reach a single-measurement instrument calibration precision better than 10 cm s{sup −1}, not including photon noise from stellar observations. We also report on the performance of the various environmental, mechanical, and optical subsystems of EXPRES, assessing any contributions to radial-velocity error. For atmospheric and telescope related effects, this includes the fast tip-tilt guiding system, atmospheric dispersion compensation, and the chromatic exposure meter. For instrument calibration, this includes the laser fRequency comb (LFC), flat-field light source, CCD detector, and effects in the optical fibers. Modal noise is mitigated to a negligible level via a chaotic fiber agitator, which is especially important for wavelength calibration with the LFC. Regarding detector effects, we empirically assess the impact on the radial-velocity precision due to pixel-position nonuniformities and charge transfer inefficiency (CTI). EXPRES has begun its science survey to discover exoplanets orbiting G-dwarf and K-dwarf stars, in addition to transit spectroscopy and measurements of the Rossiter–McLaughlin effect.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

M dwarfs, microlensing, and the mass budget of the Galaxy

We show that faint red stars do not contribute significantly to the mass budget of the Galaxy or to microlensing statistics. Our results are obtained by analyzing two long exposures of a high-latitude field taken with the Wide Field Camera (WFC) on the newly repaired Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Stars are easily distinguished from galaxies essentially to the limiting magnitudes of the images. We find five stars with 2.0 less than V - I less than 3.0 and I less than 25.3 and no stars with V - I greater than 3.0. Therefore, main-sequence stars with M(sub I) greater than 10 that are above the hydrogen-burning limit in the dark halo or the spheroid contribute less than 6% of the unseen matter. Faint red disk stars, M-dwarfs, contribute at most 15% to the mass of the disk. We parameterize the faint end of the cumulative distribution of stars, Phi, as a function of luminosity L(sub V), d Phi/d ln L(sub V) proportional to L(sub V exp -gamma). For spheroid stars, gamma less than 0.32 over the range 6 less than M(sub V) less than 17, with 98% confidence. The disk luminosity function falls, gamma less than 0, for 15 approximately less than M(sub V) approximately less than 19. Faint red stars in the disk or thick disk, and stars with M(sub V) less than 16 in the spheroid contribute tau less than 10(exp -8) to the optical depth to microlensing toward the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Bahcall, John N.↗

Hubble Space Telescope observations of cool white dwarf stars: Detection of new species of heavy elements

Observations of cool white dwarf stars with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has uncovered a number of spectral features from previouslly unobserved species. In this paper we present the data on four cool white dwarfs. We present identifications, equivalent width measurements, and brief summaries of the significance of our findings. The four stars observed are GD 40 (DBZ3, G 74-7 (DAZ), L 745-46A (DZ), and LDS 749B (DBA). Many additional species of heavey elements were detected in GD 40 and G 74-7. In L 745-46A, while the detections are limited to Fe 1, Fe II, and Mg II, the quality of the Mg II h and K line profiles should permit a test of the line broadening theories, which are so crucial to abundance determinations. The clear detection of Mg II h and k in LDS 749 B should, once an abundance determination is made, provide a clear test of the hypothesis that the DBA stars are the result of accretion from the interstellar medium. This star contains no other clear features other than a tantalizing hint of C II 1335 with a P Cygni profile, and some expected He 1 lines.

Shipman, Harry↗

NEMESIS: Exoplanet Transit Survey of Nearby M-dwarfs in TESS FFIs. I

In this work, we present an analysis of 33,054 M-dwarf stars, located within 100 parsecs, via the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) full-frame images (FFIs) of observed sectors 1–5. We present a new pipeline called NEMESIS, developed to extract detrended photometry, and to perform transit searches of single-sector data in TESS FFIs. As many M-dwarfs are faint, and are not observed with a two-minute cadence by TESS, FFI transit surveys can provide an empirical validation of how many planets are missed, using the 30-minute cadence data. In this work, we detect 183 threshold crossing events, and present 29 candidate planets for sectors 1–5, 24 of which are new detections. Our sample contains orbital periods ranging from 1.25 to 6.84 days, and planetary radii from 1.26 to 5.31 R {sub ⊕}. With the addition of our new planet candidate detections, along with detections previously observed in sectors 1–5, we calculate an integrated occurrence rate of 2.49 ± 1.58 planets per star, for the period range ∈ [1, 9] days, and planet radius range ∈ [0.5,11] R {sub ⊕}. We project an estimated yield of 122 ± 11 transit detections of nearby M-dwarfs. Of our new candidates, 23 have signal-to-noise ratios >7, transmission spectroscopy metrics >38, and emission spectroscopy metrics >10. We present all of our data products for our planet candidates via the Filtergraph data visualization service, located at https://filtergraph.com/NEMESIS.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Su Lyn: Diagnosing the Boundary Layer with UV and Hard X-Ray Data

Symbiotic stars in which the symbiotic phenomenon is powered solely by accretion, often at an average rate that is higher than in cataclysmic variable stars, provide an important opportunity to diagnose boundary layers around disk-accreting white dwarfs. Here, we investigate SU Lyncis (SU Lyn), a recently discovered example of a purely accretion-powered symbiotic star, using the first reliable X-ray spectroscopy, obtained with NuSTAR, and ultraviolet (UV) photometry obtained with Swift. SU Lyn has hard, thermal, X-ray emission that is strongly affected by a variable local absorber that has little impact on the UV emission. Its X-ray spectrum is described well using a plasma cooling from kT ≈ 21 keV, with a 3-30 keV luminosity of approximately 4.9 × 10(exp 32) erg s(exp -1). The spectrum is also consistent with the presence of reflection with an amplitude of 1.0, although in that case, the bestfit plasma temperature is 20%-25% lower. The UV to X-ray luminosity ratio of SU Lyn changed significantly between 2015 and 2016. We interpret this as a consequence of a drop by almost 90% in the accretion rate. Whereas the UV luminosity of the disk responded linearly, the luminosity of the optically thin (hard X-ray) emission from the boundary layer remained roughly constant because the boundary layer changed from partially optically thick to almost completely optically thin. Under this interpretation, we place a lower limit on the white dwarf mass of 0.7 solar mass (0.8 solar mass if we neglect reflection).

NuSTAR↗

A Mystery in Chamaeleon: Serendipitous Discovery of a Galactic Symbiotic Nova

We present the serendipitous discovery of a low optical-luminosity nova occurring in a D-type symbiotic binary star system in the Milky Way. We lay out the extensive archival data alongside new follow-up observations related to the stellar object CN Cha in the constellation of Chamaeleon. The object had long period (250 days), high amplitude (3 mag) optical variability in its recent past, preceding an increase in optical brightness by 8 magnitudes and a persistence at this brightness for about 3 yr, followed by a period of 1.4 mag yr{sup −1} dimming. The object’s current optical luminosity seems to be dominated by Hα emission, which also exhibits blueshifted absorption (a P-Cygni-like profile). After consideration of a number of theories to explain these myriad observations, we determine that CN Cha is most likely a symbiotic (an evolved-star–white-dwarf binary) system that has undergone a long-duration, low optical brightness, nova, placing it squarely in the class of so-called “slow novae,” of which there are only a few known examples. The duration of the optical plateau in CN Cha would make it the shortest timescale plateau of any known slow symbiotic novae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Factory and the Beehive. IV. A Comprehensive Study of the Rotation X-Ray Activity Relation in Praesepe and the Hyades

X-ray observations of low-mass stars in open clusters are critical to understanding the dependence of magnetic activity on stellar properties and their evolution. Praesepe and the Hyades, two of the nearest, most-studied open clusters, are among the best available laboratories for examining the dependence of magnetic activity on rotation for stars with masses ≲1 M ⊙ . We present an updated study of the rotation–X-ray activity relation in the two clusters. We updated membership catalogs that combine pre-Gaia catalogs with new catalogs based on Gaia Data Release 2. The resulting catalogs are the most inclusive ones for both clusters: 1739 Praesepe and 1315 Hyades stars. We collected X-ray detections for cluster members, for which we analyzed, re-analyzed, or collated data from ROSAT, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, and XMM-Newton. We have detections for 326 Praesepe and 462 Hyades members, of which 273 and 164, respectively, have rotation periods—an increase of 6× relative to what was previously available. We find that at ≈700 Myr, only M dwarfs remain saturated in X-rays, with only tentative evidence for supersaturation. We also find a tight relation between the Rossby number and fractional X-ray luminosity L X /L bol in unsaturated single members, suggesting a power-law index between –3.2 and –3.9. Lastly, we find no difference in the coronal parameters between binary and single members. These results provide essential insight into the relative efficiency of magnetic heating of the stars' atmospheres, thereby informing the development of robust age-rotation-activity relations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Physical basis for altered stem elongation rates in internode length mutants of Pisum

Biophysical parameters related to gibberellin (GA)-dependent stem elongation were examined in dark-grown stem-length genotypes of Pisum sativum L. The rate of internode expansion in these genotypes is altered due to recessive mutations which affect either the endogenous levels of, or response to, GA. The GA deficient dwarf L181 (ls), two GA insensitive semierectoides dwarfs NGB5865 and NGB5862 (lka and lkb, respectively) and the slender' line L197 (la crys), which is tall regardless of GA content, were compared to the wild-type tall cultivar, Torsdag. Osmotic pressure, estimated by vapor pressure osmometry, and turgor pressure, measured directly with a pressure probe, did not correlate with the differences in growth rate among the genotypes. Mechanical wall properties of frozen-thawed tissue were measured using a constant force assay. GA deficiency resulted in increased wall stiffness judged both on the basis of plastic compliance and plastic extensibility normalized for equal stem circumference. Plastic compliance was not reduced in the GA insensitive dwarfs, though lka reduced circumference-normalized plasticity. In contrast, in vivo wall relaxation, determined by the pressure-block technique, differed among genotypes in a manner which did correlate with extension rates. The wall yield threshold was 1 bar or less in the tall lines, but ranged from 3 to 6 bars in the dwarf genotypes. The results with the ls mutant indicate that GA enhances stem elongation by both decreasing the wall yield threshold and increasing the wall yield coefficient. In the GA-insensitive mutants, lka and lkb, the wall yield threshold is substantially elevated. Plants possessing lka may also possess a reduced wall yield coefficient.

NASA Discipline Number 29-20↗

A Complete Sample of Hot Post-AGB Stars in Globular Clusters

Ultraviolet images of globular clusters are often dominated by one or two "UV-bright" stars. The most luminous of these are believed to be post-AGB stars, which go through a luminous UV-bright phase as they leave the AGB and move rapidly across the HR diagram toward their final white dwarf state. During the two flights of the ASTRO observatory in 1990 and 1995, the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT, Stecher 1997, PASP, 109, 584) was used to obtained ultraviolet (1600 A) images of 14 globular clusters. These images provide a complete census of hot (> 8000 K) post-AGB stars in the observed globular clusters, because the 40' field of view of UIT is large enough to image the entire population of most Galactic globulars, and because the dominant cool star population is suppressed in ultraviolet images, allowing UV-bright stars to be detected into the cluster core. We have begun a program of optical and STIS ultraviolet spectroscopy to determine the fundamental stellar parameters (\log L, T_eff, \log g) of all the hot post-AGB candidates discovered on the UIT images. Among the goals of our program are to test theoretical post-AGB lifetimes across the HR diagram, and to estimate the mass of the currently forming white dwarfs in globular clusters. Two trends are already apparent in our survey. First, the UV-selected sample has removed a bias against the detection of the hottest post-AGB stars, and resulted in the discovery of five cluster post-AGB stars with Teff > 50,000 K. Second, most of the new discoveries have been lower luminosity (2.5 $<$\log L $<$ 3.0) than expected for stars which leave the AGB during the thermally pulsating phase.

Landsman, W.↗

Spitzer Follow-up of Extremely Cold Brown Dwarfs Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

We present Spitzer follow-up imaging of 95 candidate extremely cold brown dwarfs discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, which uses visually perceived motion in multi epoch Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer(WISE)images to identify previously unrecognized substellar neighbors to the Sun. We measure Spitzer[3.6]–[4.5]color to photo type our brown dwarf candidates, with an emphasis on pinpointing the coldest and closest Y dwarfs within our sample. The combination of WISE and Spitzer astrometry provides quantitative confirmation of the transverse motion of 75 of our discoveries. Nine of our motion-confirmed objects have best-fit linear motions larger than 1′′yr−1; our fastest-moving discovery is WISEA J155349.96+693355.2(μ≈215 yr−1),a possible T-type sub dwarf. We also report a newly discovered wide-separation(∼400 au)T8 comoving companion to the white dwarf LSPM J0055+5948(the fourth such system to be found), plus a candidate late T companion to the white dwarf LSR J0002+6357 at 55 projected separation(∼8700 au if associated). Among our motion-confirmed targets, five have Spitzer colors most consistent with spectral type Y. Four of these five have exceptionally red Spitzer colors suggesting types of Y1 or later, adding considerably to the small sample of known objects in this especially valuable low-temperature regime. Our Y dwarf candidates begin bridging the gap between the bulk of the Y dwarf population and the coldest known brown dwarf.

Y dwarfs↗