Brown Dwarf May Be Host To Massive, Violent Mega Storm

Earth isn't the only celestial body having some bad weather.

It seems scientists have actually discovered a brown dwarf (a celestial object that is smaller than a normal star) hosting one of the most violent, massive storms they've ever seen, according to Space.com. The brown dwarf, currently known as 2MASS J21392676+0220226, had a 30 percent change in brightness in the course of just 8 hours, suggesting that massive parts of it are covered by the swirling storm.

As Discovery News writes about the brightness variations, "a brown dwarf doesn't have surface features like bright ice caps and dark lava flows that one would expect on the solid surface of a rocky planet."

"We might be looking at a gigantic storm raging on this brown dwarf, perhaps a grander version of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter in our own solar system, or we may be seeing the hotter, deeper layers of its atmosphere through big holes in the cloud deck," said University of Toronto astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana in a press release.

The similarities between this type of storm on a brown dwarf and storms like the swirling red storm on Jupiter, as well as other gas giants, may mark similar behaviors. Despite being relatively small for stars, brown dwarfs are larger than even gas giant planets.

The data gained from this discovery could help for better weather mapping on gas giant planets in our own solar system, and across the universe, according to the study's abstract. The findings will be published in the newest version of The Astophysical Journal, and will be presented at the Extreme Solar Systems II conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week.

The weather patterns found on gas giants have long intrigued scientists. Recently, researchers used the Cassini spacecraft to discover this storm on Saturn, which measures about six times the size of Earth.

Comments

[Jeff Adler]

07:25 PM on 10/07/2011

Steve Jobs? It's because of people like him that the whole job market became screwed up since the 1980's. Goodbye Mr. Overachiever.

[kinogod]

12:08 PM on 09/18/2011

I hear brown Dwarfs can really throw some nasty fits when they feel disrespected.

[Garudastan]

12:29 AM on 09/17/2011

When we say witnessing do we technologically mean viewing some that occurred 100 million years ago

[LibertarianCentrist]

05:35 PM on 09/15/2011

If anyone can answer this I'd appreciate it. I understand that Brown Dwarfs are very small, cold stars... So do colder stars have an "Atmosphere" where storms are able to form and sustain themselves? Is the Corona of our star considered an "Atmosphere" ?

[Rich Cash]

11:35 PM on 10/13/2011

There are no colder stars than brown dwarfs. The sun's corona is considered a stellar atmosphere which is quite different than a planetary atmosphere.

[ShockandAutism]

06:55 PM on 09/14/2011

Wow, when I saw the headline I thought Al Sharpton was protesting something.

[palindrom]

08:59 AM on 09/15/2011

This is a science article. There are zillions of similarly irrelevant and unfunny comments on it. Why do you think we're going to chuckle at this one?

[LibertarianCentrist]

04:16 PM on 09/15/2011

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! That's pretty great actually.... lol

[ScooterBob]

05:47 PM on 09/14/2011

Kinda cool, but does anyone know if this particular brown dwarf is part of a binary system? With such violent surface storms, one wonders what is going on under the hood, so to speak. Or, would the proximity of an active, larger star potentially be causing come surface instability? Dang it...this is why we need intergalactic travel, so we can see these amazing phenomenon up close!!

[Paul400]

04:00 PM on 09/14/2011

Hi wetbaconstrips!!!

Ouch....!!!

[DarthVee]

03:52 PM on 09/14/2011

Sheesh. Seventy-five or eighty percent of the comments on this post are about Bush, Obama, even Al Gore. Where do we go, Huffington Post, to get a good conversation going about the science talked about in this article? It seems only a precious few are interested in learning new things these days. Sad commentary if you ask me.

[SocratesFan]

03:55 PM on 09/14/2011

Do what I'm doing. Reply to every political post and remind them that it's not the topic of this article.

It may not work, but I'm at least making the attempt.

[Paul400]

04:30 PM on 09/14/2011

Hello again SocratesFan!!!

Try not to forget the advice I offered you in my earlier reply to you!

Again, let me recommend to you (and anyone else who might be interested) the following three publications that I personally own which are most definitely 'scientific in nature & content':

First: *THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ARISTOTLE, THE REVISED OXFORD TRANSLATION, EDITED BY JONATHAN BARNES [BOLLINGEN SERIES LXXI - 2, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS: 1984*]. An excellent source to dicern the 'methods of critical thinking'....to be sure!!!

Second: *THE ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS ENCYCLOPEDIA, EDITED BY STEPHEN P. MARAN, FOREWORD BY CARL SAGAN [VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD & CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS: 1992*]. It contains some 'excellent info' as regards 'brown dwarfs' and 'dark matter'!!!

Third: *STEREOSCOPY, BY N. A. VALYUS [THE FOCAL PRESS, LONDON and NEW YORK*]. You want to understand the science, theory and engineering behind the 3D technology in products taylored for the *AGE OF 3D CINEMA & TELEVISION*, then read this book!!!

Have a great day my friend....,PEACE!!!

[BeeJayCeee]

05:08 PM on 09/14/2011

And when are we going to get a dedicated science section? Why try to shoehorn this in under the heading of "Green"?

[vonBeavis]

03:34 PM on 09/14/2011

How is it that an interesting article about space attracts so many inappropriate wingnut comments? Take your repug junk elsewhere, trolls.

[SocratesFan]

03:55 PM on 09/14/2011

I agree with the sentiment, but our own party is no better, with its constantly bringing up the Tea Party and Republicans if they're the first ones to make the post.

[DarthVee]

03:56 PM on 09/14/2011

If only they could hear you. F&F!

[longwalker21]

02:56 PM on 09/14/2011

Attention caption writers : A "brown dwarf" is a star not a planet. Please attempt to read and understand story before writing caption!

[Sir Guy Grand]

03:05 PM on 09/14/2011

I used to suggest to Huff Post that they consider having "Science" as a separate article category, but after scanning these comments, maybe we should just forget it.

[hububub]

02:39 PM on 09/14/2011

Its most likely caused by global warming here on earth..hell he kook libs blame everything on humans..but not one of them are willing to leave the planet!

[SocratesFan]

02:43 PM on 09/14/2011

Liberals and global warming are not the topic of this article.

Seriously, ALL of you, quit acting so petty and just enjoy the complexity and broad wonders of the universe. That is the point of astronomy, not your squabbling.

[onionboy]

03:38 PM on 09/14/2011

Hicky doo diddley di-do. Let's git on that thar internet machine and pound at them letters and cipherin'. That scientifical stuff ain't never done nothin' fer me no how.

[giftsthatpurr]

03:42 PM on 09/14/2011

Thanks. My laugh for today!

[lambdin1]

02:17 PM on 09/14/2011

It is always amazing to me that we discover and learn. And we learn that there is so much we don't know.

[mirrormanxkl]

01:55 PM on 09/14/2011

Violent Massive Mega Storms may soon start showing up here if things keep warming up. Venus blew the land surface off some six hundred million years ago! Suspicions and theories abound...one of those theories: heat from the core and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere raised the temperature and the planet started bubbling....should anything like that ever happen here.....hell on earth....i mean literally. Forget climate change, we are talking burning to death.

[GuddhaVonChuda]

02:37 PM on 09/14/2011

It was only a matter of time before some dependent liberal made their 'feelings' heard. You Are Wrong!.. In 1974 Time Magazine featured on their cover a story about global cooling. If you knew a damn thing about space you would know this is a failed star... Meaning it doesn't have enough energy to create a constant source of nuclear fusion. Therefore, it cannot sustain an existance of an active star, capable of sustaining a 'solar system'. Before Al Gore "created" the 'solar system', there was Einsteinian facts. E=MC2..... Learn it, love it and of course live it.

[SocratesFan]

02:44 PM on 09/14/2011

Al Gore and climate change are unrelated to this article.

What the hell is going on, that nobody seems to be able to just enjoy the study of a brown dwarf without dragging Earth's petty squabbles into it?

[palindrom]

09:05 AM on 09/15/2011

I know this isn't the topic of the thread, but I can't leave those canards unchallenged. There was no preponderance of serious opinion that the globe was going to cool in 1974, just a Time article. I know this is a failed star, by the way -- I'm an astronomer and actually discovered a brown dwarf. I also know radiative transfer theory, and even if you despise Al Gore with every fiber of your being, and are sure global warming is a plot to take away your freedom -- well, it isn't. It's the real stuff, and you can't just make it go away with talking points.

[SocratesFan]

02:44 PM on 09/14/2011

And now my own party's doing it.

Global warming is not the topic of this article.

[starchildjg24]

01:54 PM on 09/14/2011

I know that this is a free country. Still, wishing is also free and I wish people with their silly political agendas would at least leave the science articles alone. If you are not interested in science, in astronomical studies, then why come here to post your nonsense? The mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Go read about the army of zombie cucumbers, then you might gain more appreciation for science. I had great success stressing math and science with my kids, rather than politics. They are in more interesting careers!

[tj101]

02:21 PM on 09/14/2011

*clap, clap, clap*

[Paul400]

02:36 PM on 09/14/2011

Hello starchildjg24!!!

OUTSTANDING COMMENT!!! Allow me to recommend to you and 'anyone else' who may be interested two 'highly scientific' publications that I own:

First: *THE ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS ENCYCLOPEDIA, EDITED BY STEPHEN P. MARAN, FOREWORD BY CARL SAGAN [VAN NOSTRAND REINHOLD & CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS: 1992]*. There is some excellent, though 'possibly outdated', information on the 'connection' between 'brown dwarfs' and 'dark matter' to be sourced from this book.

Second: *STEREOSCOPY, by N. A. Valyus [THE FOCAL PRESS, LONDON and NEW YORK: 1966]*. Anyone who is interested in the science and engineering involved in the development of the 'extremely sophisticated' 3D technologies that we now are beginning to 'enjoy' in the *AGE OF 3D CINEMA & TELEVISION' will find all of their questions answered in this book!

Again....GREAT COMMENT 'starchildjg24'....thank you.

[libbyejansen]

04:35 PM on 09/14/2011

thanks for the info any chance the public library might have these?

[starchildjg24]

08:55 AM on 09/15/2011

To be honest, I have a great interest in science, but not much knowledge. Way back when, my mom told me I had 3 choices for a career. I could be a nurse, secretary or teacher! It never crossed my parents' mind to encourage me in science or math. I enjoyed math, logic has always been one of my strong points. Science, except for the study of the human body, left me cold at the time. Who cared about the life cycle of a liverwort! I got a scholarship, headed off to university, and studied English and library science. Books had been my life since I taught myself to read at 4. To get my science credits, I took Earth Science which I loved, and a logic class.
Now I have a strong interest in science, which I tried to encourage in my kids. Field trips to everywhere! I am trying to gain a grasp of quantum physics, and I read all the science articles and books that I can, but I wish I had a stronger foundation. So I am on a very simple level. I do not apologize, a person should always continue to learn and grow, and no one can ever be an expert in everything. But hey, I am a whiz at literature and books! Anyone who can suggest simple science books? (Love of books leads to fantasy & science fiction leads to interest in real science)

[SpikeGCHjr]

01:14 PM on 09/14/2011

who care about a "possible" storm on some distant planet? They're not really certain anyway what it is, so someone made a story about this...seriously! I have a better idea...try and accurately predict the weather next week in my hometown and I might listen a little more intently. Since mankind cannot yet do that, this means nothing!

[tj101]

02:22 PM on 09/14/2011

You speak for yourself, pal, and no one else.

[SpikeGCHjr]

03:06 PM on 09/14/2011

wow, a little touchy now arent we? Do you really care about a "possible" storm on some distant planet when our own meteorologists cant even predict our own weather...thats all I am saying...and you get your knickers all bunched up?. Whats THAT all about?, sound a little sensitive to me. Did someone disrespect you or something lately, and now you are taking it out on the world? Lighten up Jr.

[SocratesFan]

02:46 PM on 09/14/2011

You have no idea how science works, what scientists do, you haven't studied the issue, and yet you dismiss it as worthless because you don't see how it impacts your life personally.

You sound like an eighth grader rationalizing his poor science scores in class.

[longwalker21]

03:00 PM on 09/14/2011

SocratesFan : Socrates was a very wise man - he admitted that he was ignorant about many things. That is why he asked his questions - to learn from those who claimed to know. However, his questions usually exposed the ignorance of these self-proclaimed experts.

[SpikeGCHjr]

03:01 PM on 09/14/2011

Really??? So that means all those years in college that I studied and majored in meteorology, climatology and geography were a lie, a fraud and a waste of time from a major environmental university? OOPS! Didnt think you were talking to a qualified reader did you? Sorry, gee now you sound so foolish. I have studied these fields far further and more extensively than you ever could. Science by the way only tries to explain things, it is not the be all, or end all, to anything. I do not pray at the alter of science as Libs do..it's just a tool, thats all.