UPM J1040−3551

UPM J1040-3551 is an exceptionally rare hierarchical quadruple stellar system discovered in 2025. It consists of a brighter pair of young red dwarf stars and a fainter pair of cold T-Type brown dwarfs. This configuration, a pair of brown dwarfs orbiting a pair of red dwarfs has never been observed before and serves as a benchmark for studying brown dwarfs, which are "failed stars" too massive to be planets but too small to sustain hydrogen fusion like normal stars. The system provides crucial insights into the formation and evolution of low-mass stellar and sub-stellar objects, as well as the mass distribution in the universe.^{[5][3][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

It was discovered using ESA's Gaia Telescope and NASA's WISE Telescope. The lead researcher are Zhenghua Zhang of Nanjing University and collaborator including Hughes Jones from University of Hertfordshire and MariCruz Gálvez-Ortiz from Center for Astrobiology.^[3][11]