Historical eventOctober 271994

Gliese 229

Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified.

Everything on October 27Original source

In context

When
Thursday, October 27 199432 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1990s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1994.

Type: multiple star, binary star, and double star.

What came beforeAI-assisted

Brown dwarfs—objects too massive to be planets but too small to sustain hydrogen fusion—were theorized in the 1960s but remained undetected for decades. Astronomers developed infrared detection methods throughout the 1980s and early 1990s to search for these elusive objects.

Catalyst / how it startedAI-assisted

The Palomar Observatory Near-Infrared Camera (PANIC) and adaptive optics technology enabled astronomers to detect faint infrared signatures of brown dwarfs orbiting nearby stars. Gliese 229 was identified as a promising candidate due to its proximity and known stellar properties.

Who was involvedAI-assisted

Astronomers at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Palomar Observatory led the discovery team. The research was conducted using ground-based infrared observations with advanced imaging techniques.

TimelineAI-assisted

October 27, 1994: Gliese 229 B, a brown dwarf companion, was confirmed orbiting the red dwarf Gliese 229 A. This marked one of the first definitive detections of a brown dwarf and provided crucial evidence for their existence.

What happened

Gliese 229 is a multiple system composed of a red dwarf and two brown dwarfs, located 18.8 light-years away. It is the nearest star system in the constellation Lepus. The primary component has 58% of the mass of the Sun, 55% of the Sun's radius, and a very low projected rotational velocity of 1 km/s at the stellar equator.

October 27 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1994Gliese 229
  2. 1999Armenian parliament shooting
  3. 1999Nairi Hunanyan
  4. 2004Boston Red Sox
  5. 2011Michael D. Higgins
  6. 2014Operation Herrick
  7. 2017Catalonia
  8. 2018Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
  9. 2018Leicester City F.C.
  10. 2019Islamic State
  11. 2019The Mocking of Christ (Cimabue)

Also in 1994

  • September 9Space Shuttle programSpace Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on STS-64.
  • September 12Frank Eugene CorderFrank Eugene Corder fatally crashes a single-engine Cessna 150 into the White House's south lawn, striking the West Wing. There were no o…
  • September 14Major League BaseballThe rest of the Major League Baseball season is canceled because of a strike.
  • September 161988–1994 British broadcasting voice restrictionsThe British government lifts the broadcasting ban imposed against members of Sinn Féin and Irish paramilitary groups in 1988.
  • June 141994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riotThe 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers defeat the Vancouver Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, causing an est…
  • January 3Baikal Airlines Flight 130Baikal Airlines Flight 130 crashes near Mamoney, Irkutsk, Russia, resulting in 125 deaths.
  • August 14Carlos the JackalIlich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured.
  • July 5Jeff BezosJeff Bezos founds Amazon.

Everything we record for 1994 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Gliese 229”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/gliese-229-1994-october-27, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Gliese 229 happen?

October 27 1994 — 32 years ago, on a Thursday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints. Panels marked AI-assisted were filled where the sources left a heading empty.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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