This discovery image from the Gemini Observatory represents the closest brown dwarf companion ever directly imaged around a star (named LHS 2397a). This image was obtained on Feb. 7, 2002 with the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii using the University of Hawaii's Adaptive Optics system Hokupa`a and the QUIRC infrared imager. CREDIT: Gemini Observatory/Melanie Freed, Laird Close, Nick Siegler University of Arizona/ Hokupa'a-QUIRC image, University of Hawaii, IfA
