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Astronomical research on stellar and brown dwarf properties

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2026-09-22 14:15 UTC → 2026-09-25 15:09 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Astronomers have introduced new methodologies for studying stellar and sub-stellar objects. One approach involves analyzing chemical compositions, specifically beryllium and lithium levels, to identify stars that have consumed orbiting planets. Researchers studying the binary star system HD 129171 found evidence of rocky material ingestion exceeding 11 Earth masses. Simultaneously, researchers have utilized James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data to analyze the atmospheric conditions of distant celestial objects. By applying Principal Component Analysis to data from the Near-Infrared Spectrograph and Mid-Infrared Instrument, teams identified recurring weather patterns in the brown dwarf SIMP 0136. These patterns consist of temperature fluctuations and vertical cloud structures that create alternating hot, thin-cloud regions and cooler, thick-cloud regions, resembling extreme gas storms. Further JWST observations have expanded to GJ 504 b, a pink-hued object approximately 57 light-years away that sits on the boundary between a giant planet and a brown dwarf. With a mass roughly 25 times that of Jupiter, atmospheric models for GJ 504 b suggest the presence of methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. To align observational data with physical models, researchers have proposed that the object possesses clouds composed of substances like manganese sulfide and potassium chloride, rather than the ice crystals or water clouds typical of Earth. Recent observations have also identified unusual phenomena involving a white dwarf. Researchers studying RXJ0528+2838, located approximately 730 light-years away, discovered a shock wave that has persisted for at least 1,000 years. This duration contradicts current astronomical models, which suggest such phenomena should last only a few hundred years. The absence of an accretion disk suggests an unknown physical process is driving the event.

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