Outflows have been discovered from a Brown Dwarf star, 2MASS1207-3932, the lightest yet.

Found by Emma Whelan and Tom Ray of DIAS and others , using the ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), this is the first time that Jets have been seen from an astronomical object as small as this.

The Brown Dwarf is 2MASS1207-3932, a 24-Jupiter mass 'near star'. Jets of material are a common feature in astrophysics, seen from Galaxies and young stars, but this is the first time they have been seen in something this small. It opens the possibility of similar outflows from smaller objects, such as giant planets.

The brown dwarf 2MASS1207-3932 is full of surprises. Its companion, a 5 Jupiter-mass giant, was the first confirmed exoplanet for which astronomers could obtain an image, thereby opening a new field of research - the direct detection of alien worlds. It was then later found that the brown dwarf has a disc surrounding it, not unlike very young stars.