Citizen scientists uncover a cold new world near sun

A new citizen-science tool released earlier this year to help astronomers pinpoint new worlds lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system has already led to a discovery: a brown dwarf a little more than 100 light years away from the Sun. Just six days after the launch of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 website, four users alerted the science team to the curious object, whose presence has since been confirmed via telescope.