Researchers at MIT and elsewhere reported in Nature Astronomy on October 5, 2026, the discovery of a star slowly consuming material from a closely orbiting brown dwarf about 300 light years from Earth in the Milky Way. Named ZTF J0440+2325, the system was described as the first observation of a low-mass object steadily drawing material from another low-mass object.

The brown dwarf circles the star every 87 minutes, in an orbit the researchers said could fit within the sun's diameter. The star was estimated at around 85 times the mass of Jupiter, the brown dwarf around 25 times. The team calculated that the brown dwarf feeds the star about 1/100,000 of an Earth mass each year. Based on that rate, they estimated the process could continue for hundreds of thousands, or even billions of years.

The source was first flagged by the Zwicky Transient Facility as a repeating triangular brightness pattern. Simulations indicated particles from the brown dwarf fall onto the star's surface, producing what researchers described as a steady hotspot. The researchers said the finding may prompt searches for similar systems; the study received partial support from the National Science Foundation.