An alien planet may lurk around nearby failed stars

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Nbc.com - 12/30/13, Megan Gannon

Image: Brown-dwarf system

Astronomers have spotted signs of a possible exoplanet in a nearby system of twin failed stars. If confirmed, the alien world would be one of the closest to our sun ever found.

Scientists discovered the pair of failed stars, known as brown dwarfs, only last year. At just 6.6 light-years from Earth, the pair is the third closest system to our sun. It's actually so close that "television transmissions from 2006 are now arriving there," Kevin Luhman, of Penn State's Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds, noted when their discovery was announced in June. 

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