Massive, Cloudy, Jupiter-Like Storm Discovered On Tiny Distant Star

MessageToEagle.com | December 12, 2015 | Astronomy | No Comments

MessageToEagle.com – Astronomers, using data from NASA’s Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes, have discovered a tiny star with a giant, cloudy storm, very similar to Jupiter’s Great Red Spot: a persistent, raging storm larger than Earth.

While planets have been known to have cloudy storms, this is the best evidence yet for a star that has one.

This artist's concept shows what the weather might look like on brown dwarf stars. Photo Credits:: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Western Ontario/Stony Brook University — This artist’s concept shows what the weather might look like on brown dwarf stars. Photo Credits:: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Western Ontario/Stony Brook University

“The star is the size of Jupiter, and its storm is the size of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot,” said John Gizis of the University of Delaware, Newark, the lead author of a new study appearing in The Astrophysical Journal.

“We know this newfound storm has lasted at least two years, and probably longer.”

The star W1906+40, which belongs to a thermally cool class of objects called L-dwarfs, is thought to be a star based on estimates of its age (the older the L-dwarf, the more likely it is a star).

This illustration shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. The storm is thought to be similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Scientists discovered it using NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech — This illustration shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. The storm is thought to be similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Scientists discovered it using NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Its temperature is about 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 Kelvin). That may sound scorching hot, but as far as stars go, it is relatively cool.

Cool enough, in fact, for clouds to form in its atmosphere.

NOTE: Some L-dwarfs are considered stars because they fuse atoms and generate light, as our sun does, while others, called brown dwarfs, are known as “failed stars” for their lack of atomic fusion.