James Webb tracks shifting water clouds on WISE 0855, 7.5 light-years away

Astronomers led by Brittany Miles at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory observed WISE 0855, the coldest known brown dwarf, for 11 hours with the James Webb Space Telescope. Taking a spectrum every 15 minutes, they directly watched water clouds thicken and thin while deep gases rose from lower atmospheric layers.

• Observations lasted 11 hours with a spectrum every 15 minutes
• WISE 0855 lies 7.5 light-years away and is about twice Jupiter's mass
• Its temperature is roughly 265 kelvins (17°F)
• Rhythmic signals from carbon monoxide and phosphine were detected