Windy Brown Dwarf

Spitzer_ssc2020-09a_1024

spitzer_ssc2020-09a April 9th, 2020

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

For the first time, scientists have directly measured wind speed on a brown dwarf, pictured here in an illustration. Brown dwarfs are objects larger than Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system) but not quite massive enough to become stars. To achieve the finding, they used a new method that could also be applied to learn about the atmospheres of gas-dominated planets outside our solar system.

Described in a paper in the journal Science, the work combines observations by a group of radio telescopes with data from NASA's recently retired infrared observatory, the Spitzer Space Telescope, managed by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Officially named 2MASS J10475385+2124234, the target of the new study was located 32 light-years from Earth - a stone's throw away, cosmically speaking. It is one of the coldest known brown dwarfs..

The researchers detected winds moving around the planet at 1,425 mph (2,293 kph). For comparison, Neptune's atmosphere features the fastest winds in the solar system, which whip through at more than 1,200 mph (about 2,000 kph).

Provider: Spitzer Space Telescope

Image Source: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6760-ssc2020-09a-Windy-Brown-Dwarf

Curator: Spitzer Space Telescope, Pasadena, CA, USA

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Image Details

Image Type
Artwork
Object Name
2MASS J10475385+2124234
Subject - Milky Way
Star > Type > Brown Dwarf

Distance

Universescale1
32 light years
Spitzer_ssc2020-09a_1280
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ID
ssc2020-09a
Subject Category
B.3.2.3  
Subject Name
2MASS J10475385+2124234
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Release Date
2020-04-09
Lightyears
32
Redshift
32
Reference Url
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/6760-ssc2020-09a-Windy-Brown-Dwarf
Type
Artwork
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Instrument
Color Assignment
Band
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
Spitzer Space Telescope
URL
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
1200 E. California Blvd.
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
91125
Country
USA
Rights
Publisher
Spitzer Science Center
Publisher ID
spitzer
Resource ID
ssc2020-09a.tif
Metadata Date
2020-04-09
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
32 light years

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