Brown dwarfs are heavier than planets but lighter than stars. Their atmospheres resemble a bubbling pot: clouds of scorching sand and iron droplets rise and fall. The Webb Telescope long monitored the pair WISE 1049AB and, breaking their light into colors, noticed a puzzle: the warmer dwarf's light from methane and carbon monoxide pulses far more strongly than from water, even though all three originate from the same depth. Clouds aren't to blame — turbulent chemical reactions rage in the depths. Like a pot where some spices float faster than others when heated, these reactions speed up and stall, rippling the glow.

Additionally, gigantic waves course through the atmosphere — exactly like those that create weather on Earth, only without oceans or land. This chemical dance could be the key to forecasting climate on distant planets.