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Scientists have located the coldest brown dwarf star ever observed, an important 'missing link' among these half-planet, half-star celestial bodies, a new study shows.

There are many types of brown dwarf, an example of which is seen surrounded by a swirling disc of planet-building dust. But this latest discovery is in a class of its own

So-called 'L dwarfs' have temperatures of 1200-2000°C, and are enveloped in clouds of dust and aerosols in their high atmosphere.

'T dwarfs' are cooler, and their atmosphere's contain methane

The brown dwarf, poetically named CFBDS J005910.83-011401.3, is sizzling hot by Earth standards, with a surface temperature of some 350°C.

French and Canadian astronomers made the discovery using two powerful telescopes in Hawaii and one in Chile, according to the study, to be published this month in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

it is far colder than any brown dwarf seen to date,

It constitutes a kind of missing link between small stars and giant planets