Webb telescope detects variable water clouds outside the solar system for the first time

Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to observe WISE 0855, the coldest known brown dwarf 7.5 light-years away, for 11 hours, capturing a spectrum every 15 minutes. It marks the first detection of variable water clouds beyond the solar system on a Jupiter-sized, chemically complex world.

• WISE 0855 is the coldest known brown dwarf, 7.5 light-years from Earth
• Observations lasted 11 hours with spectra taken every 15 minutes
• First detection of variable water clouds outside the solar system
• Study led by Brittany Miles of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory