+- Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum (https://www.scivillage.com)
+-- Forum: Science (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-61.html)
+--- Forum: Astrophysics, Cosmology & Astronomy (https://www.scivillage.com/forum-74.html)
+--- Thread: Dwarf Star with Jupiter-like Spot Discovered (/thread-1708.html)
Dwarf Star with Jupiter-like Spot Discovered - Yazata - Dec 11, 2015
http://astronomy.com/news/2015/12/space-telescopes-see-jupiter-like-storm-on-small-star
A brown dwarf star about the same size as Jupiter known as W1906+40 has been discovered to have a cloudy storm on its surface, similar in size to Jupiter's red spot.
Reportedly, this little brown dwarf is big enough that it might have some nuclear fusion occurring inside it. Its surface temperature is about 3,500 degrees F (1,900 degrees C) which is very cool by stellar standards. So cool in fact that it's possible for it to have clouds, composed in this case of tiny mineral particles.
RE: Dwarf Star with Jupiter-like Spot Discovered - C C - Dec 12, 2015
Carl Sagan once explored the idea of an ecosystem of floating organisms inhabiting the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. In similar vein a brown dwarf with enduring gaseous belts and clouds on the cool side might be the only candidate for life subsisting on a "star". But it's extremely unlikely for a variety of reasons that Jupiter would be sporting complex forms of any kind; and simple, microbial stuff surviving at the top of a brown dwarf would probably have originated from elsewhere in panspermia fashion.