Auroras have been discovered on a planet outside the solar system that has no stars

Launched in 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope continues to make new discoveries. Recently, this device successfully identified a phenomenon that occurs on Earth, namely the northern lights. And they were discovered on a planet outside our solar system.

This phenomenon is taking place on SIMP-0136, an exoplanet located about 20 light-years away and which is different from the others. It should be noted that it does not orbit its star and has also been classified as a brown dwarf in the past.

Faced with such a mysterious celestial object, researchers at Trinity College Dublin decided to use the James Webb Space Telescope to record variations in the planet's brightness. And against all odds, they detected auroras in its atmosphere. However, this phenomenon usually occurs when a planet orbits a star.

But the scientists discovered that SIMP-0136's magnetic field is very powerful, allowing these auroras to form in the absence of stars. And that's not all, because its atmosphere is also warmer at altitude than at the surface. Indeed, they were able to identify temperature variations of less than 5 °C, showing that these auroras warm part of the atmosphere. Finally, they also demonstrated that the planet's clouds are composed of silicate.

Further observations are needed to unravel all the mysteries surrounding SIMP-0136. And there is no doubt that new atypical phenomena will be discovered in the coming months.