Astronomers reveal there may be an active moon hiding in orbit near the recently discovered James Webb Space Telescope – report

Astronomers with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope have detected radiation from a brown dwarf star, suggesting it may produce auroras like those seen near Earth’s poles and may also have an active satellite in its orbit .

Brown dwarfs are larger than planets but less massive than stars and appear frequently throughout the universe. Last year, a study led by Jackie Faherty, a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, used the powerful eyes of the Webb telescope to survey a dozen of the thousands of objects known to exist.

One of the brown dwarfs, CWISEP J193518.59154620.3 (also referred to as W1935), is about 47 light-years away from Earth. Its surface temperature is about 400 degrees Fahrenheit and its mass may be 6 to 35 times that of Jupiter.

During the study, Faherty and her team discovered that W1935 was different from other brown dwarfs they had observed. Specifically, it appears to be emitting methane. This is unusual because methane is typically associated with larger planets such as gas giants.

Faherty said initial confusion about what we were seeing eventually turned into pure excitement about the discovery.

Initial detections of methane emitting from W1935 were reported in January, confusing astronomers at the time because the object was relatively cold and lacked any host star to provide its upper atmosphere with the energy that would normally drive such methane emissions.

Faherty and her team relied on computer models in their observations of W1935, which showed that it also appears to have a temperature inversion, which is fairly common for planets orbiting stars. However, it seems odd that the W1935 would have this behavior due to its isolation without any external heat source.

Ben Burningham, a researcher at the University of Hertfordshire and a co-author of a new paper describing the team’s discovery, said the team was pleasantly surprised by the discovery and began working to find W1935’s high-level Source of additional heat in the atmosphere.

Looking at our own solar system, they were initially compared to Jupiter and Saturn, both of which are similar to W1935 in that they emit methane and also have temperature inversions, which astronomers linked to the presence of auroras on these planets.

In other words, all the evidence seems to point to the presence of auroras in W1935. This glow occurs due to the interaction between high-energy particles emitted by the Sun and the magnetic fields surrounding Jupiter, Saturn and Earth.

However, since no nearby star produces the particle emission that causes the auroras we observe in our solar system, scientists wonder what the cause of brown dwarfs like W1935 might be.

Another factor in the solar system that produces auroras is the volcanically active moons surrounding the larger planets like Jupiter and Saturn. These satellites eject material into space that also interacts with their magnetic fields. Therefore, it seems likely that W1935 also hosts a volcanic satellite that has not yet been directly observed.

Every time astronomers point JWST at an object, they have the potential to make exciting new discoveries.

Faherty and her colleagues’ new paper, “Methane Emissions from Cold Brown Dwarfs,” was published in the journal on April 17, 2024 nature.

Micah Hanks is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Report. You can contact him via email:micah@thedebrief.org.Follow his workmicahhanks.comOn X:@michahanks.