Our galaxy is teeming with brown dwarfs   –   failed stars that fill a spread between major planet and stars . Now ,   by examine a nearby one , astronomers might have made an epoch-making discovery .

A squad found at UC Santa Cruz has hold the first infrared spectrum of the brown dwarf WISE 0855 , the coldest single   aim alfresco of the Solar   System at   only 7.2 lite - years from Earth . Among many interesting features , they discovered that the object is overshadow by atmospherical striation , like Jupiter , and it has a cover of piddle cloud .

" It ’s five times fainter than any other aim find with primer - based spectroscopy at this wavelength , " spark advance author Andrew Skemer said in astatement .   " Now that we have a spectrum , we can really set out cerebrate about what ’s go on in this object . Our spectrum shows that WISE 0855 is dominated by water vapour and clouds , with an overall appearance that is strikingly like to Jupiter . "

Brown dwarfs are a class of almost - stars that   were not bighearted enough to take fire a   nuclear fusion reaction at their Congress of Racial Equality . They are made of the same elements that stars are made of , and although they are very warm when they first form , over time they become cooler and cool .

According to the latest analysis , to be published in   Astrophysical Journal Letters   andcurrently available on arXiv , WISE 0855 has a temperature of -23 ° C ( -10 ° F ) . It is very unmanageable to do spectroscopic analytic thinking on such a cold and far away object , so the Inner Light spectrum hire almost 14 hour of observations over 13 nights to maintain   the unbelievable new details of this   extrasolar cosmos .

" WISE 0855 is our first chance to contemplate an extrasolar wandering - mass object that is near as frigid as our own accelerator giants , " Skemer said .

An interesting difference between WISE 0855 and Jupiter is the lack of phosphine in the dark-brown dwarf . Phosphine is a toxic gas produced in the red-hot interior of gas pedal behemoth . In   guild for it to move to the outer atmospheric state , turbulent movement is needed , which connote that WISE 0855 has a much calmer air than Jupiter .

This inquiry highlight how the distinction between gas goliath planets and brown dwarfs is actually quite arbitrary . In the   future , investigations will in all probability delve futher   into the similarities between failed headliner and large planets .