Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 11, 2015 #1 Share Posted December 11, 2015 NASA Telescopes Detect Jupiter-Like Storm on Small Star Astronomers have discovered what appears to be a tiny star with a giant, cloudy storm, using data from NASA's Spitzer and Kepler space telescopes. The dark storm is akin to Jupiter's Great Red Spot: a persistent, raging storm larger than Earth."The star is the size of Jupiter, and its storm is the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot," said John Gizis of the University of Delaware, Newark. "We know this newfound storm has lasted at least two years, and probably longer." Gizis is the lead author of a new study appearing in The Astrophysical Journal. While planets have been known to have cloudy storms, this is the best evidence yet for a star that has one. The star, referred to as W1906+40, belongs to a thermally cool class of objects called L-dwarfs. Some L-dwarfs are considered stars because they fuse atoms and generate light, as our sun does, while others, called brown dwarfs, are known as "failed stars" for their lack of atomic fusion. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted December 11, 2015 Author #2 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Cool Star Marked by Long-Lived Storm AnimationThis animation shows a cool star, called W1906+40, marked by a raging storm near one of its poles. The storm is thought to be similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Scientists discovered it using NASA's Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes.Credit: NASA SpitzerSource: NASA Spitzer - YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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