title: Interferometric identification of a pre-brown dwarf.
abstract: It is not known whether brown dwarfs [stellar-like objects with masses less than the hydrogen-burning limit, 0.075 solar mass (M)[symbol:see text]] are formed in the same way as solar-type stars or by some other process. Here we report the clear-cut identification of a self-gravitating condensation of gas and dust with a mass in the brown-dwarf regime, made through millimeter interferometric observations. The level of thermal millimeter continuum emission detected from this object indicates a mass ~0.02 to 0.03 M[symbol:see text], whereas the small radius, <460 astronomical units, and narrow spectral lines imply a dynamical mass of 0.015 to 0.02 M[symbol:see text]. The identification of such a pre-brown dwarf core supports models according to which brown dwarfs are formed in the same manner as hydrogen-burning stars.
authors: Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation (AIM), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA)/Direction des Sciences de la Matière (DSM)-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, Gif-sur-Yvette, France. philippe.andre@cea.fr
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: André
authors: Derek
authors: D
authors: Ward-Thompson
authors: Jane
authors: J
authors: Greaves