A binary pair of red stars, one giant one dwarf, has been discovered by a collaboration of astrophysicists from the University of Hertfordshire and The Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ultra-cool dwarfs are star-like objects, but with surface temperatures much cooler than normal stars — less than 2000 degrees (compare this to the Sun’s temperature of about 6000 degrees). Exotic dusty clouds condense out at such ultra-cool temperatures, leading to objects that are hybrid in nature — with characteristics of both stars and giant planets like Jupiter.

Red giant stars are much bigger and more massive, and are evolving towards the end of their life (our Sun will become a red giant in about 5 billion years). But as they evolve towards their demise they can reveal information about their age and chemical composition.

read it here