Israeli researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery that challenges our understanding of the universe. A sweltering brown dwarf, known as WD 0032–317B, has been found to have temperatures hotter than our own sun. It was first observed in 2019 by the team from the Weizmann Institute of Science, and they confirmed its existence in 2020 using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. This celestial object, located over 1,400 light-years away from Earth, is causing scientists to question what is possible in the universe.
The brown dwarf is seen orbiting a white dwarf, its host star. Astronomers believe that about a million years ago, these two objects became trapped in a gas envelope. Despite its origins, the most intriguing aspect of WD 0032-317B is its extreme heat. With temperatures reaching nearly 14,000 degrees Fahrenheit, this brown dwarf is hotter than any other known object of its kind. It surpasses even the sun’s temperature of 9,900 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brown dwarfs like WD 0032-317B are larger than planets, such as Jupiter, but smaller than stars. They lack the necessary mass to burn hydrogen for nuclear fusion, earning them the nickname “failed stars.” However, in this research published in the journal “Nature Astronomy,” the scientists refer to this new brown dwarf as an “irradiated-Jupiter analogue,” highlighting its unique features.
This discovery holds promise for understanding the fate of gas giants like Jupiter that orbit larger burning stars. Typically, such planets experience the evaporation of their atmospheres due to intense ultraviolet light from the host star. This leads to a process called thermal dissociation, where molecules break apart. The existence of more brown dwarfs could shed light on the nature and diversity of these hot, massive objects. This breakthrough opens up new avenues of research in the field of astronomy.
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