for the first time, astronomers have obtained a detailed weather forecast for a starless object. using data from the james webb space telescope, they were able to study simp-0136, an object located 20 light-years from earth.
simp-0136 is a brown dwarf, also known as a "lost star". for about 200 million years, it has been wandering freely in space without orbiting the sun. its rotation period is 2.5 hours, and the james webb space telescope was able to track the changes in its atmosphere during each rotation.
contrary to scientists' expectations, the clouds of high-temperature silicate particles in simp-0136 were stable. however, a warming of 300°c was detected in the upper layers of its atmosphere. this means that the clouds are actually "heating" the upper atmosphere.
furthermore, small fluctuations of up to 5°c were recorded in the deep layers, suggesting the presence of large-scale storms. scientists believe that understanding the weather of these objects will help them gain a better understanding of the weather on exoplanets, which are difficult to observe directly due to the brightness of nearby stars.
