Astronomers have discovered an extremely cool object that
could have a particularly diverse history - although it is now as cool as a
planet, it may have spent much of its youth as hot as a star. The team publish
their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The current temperature of the object is 100-150 degrees
Celsius, intermediate between that of the Earth and Venus. But the object shows
evidence of a possible ancient origin, implying that a large change in
temperature has taken place. In the past this object would have been as hot as
a star for many millions of years.