For the first time, scientists catch shifting clouds on an alien world
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope caught water clouds thickening and thinning on a brown dwarf, a first beyond our solar system.
Scientists have witnessed shifting clouds on an alien world for the first time, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The distant object, WISE 0855, is a cold brown dwarf located 7.5 light-years away. Classified as a brown dwarf, it's too large to be a gas giant but not large enough to sustain hydrogen fusion like a star. Unlike Earth, WISE 0855 has water clouds, but it lacks Jupiter-like clouds of molten minerals and metals.
The telescope captured detailed spectra every 15 minutes, allowing astronomers to distinguish between cloud effects, chemistry, and temperature. This breakthrough helps them better understand distant worlds' atmospheres, potentially aiding studies of smaller, harder-to-see planets.
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