Webb Spots Chemical Weather on Brown Dwarfs ⚡ экспресс
With the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists investigated how the glow of a pair of brown dwarfs — objects bigger than planets but smaller than stars — changes over time. It turns out the light pulsations are caused not only by clouds but also by chemical instability in their atmospheres. It’s like the flickering of a candle flame due to air movement and combustible vapors. What kind of weather lies hidden in these fascinating worlds?
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.
🎯 Similar chemical waves likely rage in Jupiter's atmosphere—we just can't see them directly.