James Webb observes shifting water clouds on brown dwarf WISE 0855
11 hours of continuous observations captured cloud changes no prior telescope could resolve, researchers reported 9 October 2026.
By Luisa Marconi · 3dA University of Arizona astronomy team has confirmed water clouds thicken and thin on the brown dwarf WISE 0855.
The team led by Brittany Miles used the James Webb Space Telescope for 11 continuous hours of observation, taking a light spectrum every 15 minutes. Webb's medium-resolution spectrograph could track differences across individual molecular features, a capability no previous observatory had achieved for an object this cold.
Brittany Miles stated this is the first time water clouds have been confirmed to become thinner and thicker on a nearby world.
Separate work published this week used archival Hubble, FUSE and TESS data to identify a 4.4 day orbital period for a candidate planet around white dwarf HS 0209+0832. Lead author Jamie Williams noted the most likely explanation is the white dwarf is feeding from a newly formed second generation giant planet.
Read with its sources →