Kevin Luhman is a professor of astronomy and astrophysics from Pennsylvania State University who discovered both the third-closest stellar system, Luhman 16,[1] and the fourth-closest stellar system, WISE 0855−0714,[2] to the Sun.
WISE 0855−0714 (discovery published 2014) is the coldest massive object outside the solar system that has been directly imaged.
Luhman 16 was named for its discoverer, following common practice for very nearby stars discovered in modern times.
These discoveries were made through analysis of mid-infrared data from the WISE satellite, a NASA mission that mapped the entire sky and detected several hundred million stars.
The motions of the nearest stars over the six-month interval between the two sets of observations were measurable, enabling the discovery of these new objects.