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Re: Planet X: Cannot be a Brown Dwarf


In Article <20010903101645.22527.00003375@nso-bk.aol.com> a poster wrote:
> every one of them falls between the parameters
> necessary for a brown dwarf. That being...
>
>      15 to 80 jupiter masses (your quote)
> or
>
>      10 to 75 jupiter masses (more recent estimates)
>
> this is a far greater mass than the paltry 23 earth
> masses you give for your fictitious planet x. ie...
>
>      jupiter = 318 times the mass of the earth
>
> therefore, imaginary planet x cannot be a brown dwarf.

Humm.  So the original hypothesis for a Brown Dwarf was that it was 15
to 80 Jupiter masses, but when then found dwarfs only 10 TIMES Jupiter's
mass, did they say:

    "WAIT! Can't be a brown dwarf, it's only 10 TIMES
     the mass of Jupiter and the DEFINITION states that
     it must be 15 TIMES Jupiter's mass.  Sorry, not a
     brown dwarf!"

Are we being silly here or what?