August 20, 2025

An artist's impression of the UPM J1040−3551 AabBab system

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” (MNRAS) reports the discovery of a rare hierarchical quadruple system, which was cataloged as UPM J1040−3551 AabBab. A team of researchers used observations conducted with ESA’s Gaia space probe and NASA’s WISE space telescope, followed by spectroscopic detection and analysis, to identify this quartet consisting of a pair of red dwarfs and a pair of brown dwarfs. This relatively young system may offer new information, especially about brown dwarfs, objects halfway between planets and stars.