The study authors suggest that some brown dwarfs, under the right conditions, might gather enough dark matter to start glowing faintly, not because of nuclear fusion, but because of dark matter particles annihilating each other inside them.

If this is true, these dim, overlooked objects, which the study authors refer to as dark dwarfs, could become powerful tools in the quest for dark matter.

“Dark matter interacts gravitationally, so it could be captured by stars and accumulate inside them. If that happens, it might also interact with itself and annihilate, releasing energy that heats the star,” Jeremy Sakstein, one of the study authors and a professor at the University of Hawaii, said.

The signs of a dark matter-powered star

The idea of dark dwarfs originates from a simple but powerful question. What happens if brown dwarfs find themselves in an environment rich in dark matter? This question is also important because brown dwarfs already sit in a grey area between stars and planets.