Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA space telescope James Webb found phosphin (3) in the atmosphere of Wolf 1130c, a brown dwarf with a carpenter of metal in the triple system Wolf 1130abc.
The scheme of the triple system Wolf 1130ABC, consisting of the red dwarf star Wolf 1130a (left), its close and compact white dwarf -companion Wolf 1130b (in the center) and distant brown dwarf Wolf 1130c (right); Three components of this system are shown scale to their relative sizes. The image is provided: Adam Burgasser.
Wolf 1130ABC It is located in about 54 light years at a distance in the constellation Cygnus.
Also the famous LHS 482, Gliese 781 and Ross 1069b, this system consists of Of the three components: the cool red star Wolf 1130a, a massive white dwarf wolf 1130b and a brown dwarf wolf 1130c.
First discovered In 2013, Wolf 1130C follows the wide orbit around a dense double system Wolf 1130a and Wolf 1130b.
“Our astronomical program, called Arcana of the Antents, focuses on old brown gnomes with metals as a means of testing our understanding of atmosphere chemistry,” said Adam Burgasser, professor at the University of California University.
“Understanding the problem with phosphin was one of our first goals.”
In hydrogen rich in hydrogen, the atmosphere of gas planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, phosphin is formed naturally.
Thus, scientists have long predicts that phosphin should be present in the atmospheres of gas giants rotating with other stars, and their more massive cousins, brown dwarfs.
Nevertheless, phosphin to a large extent slipped away from detection, even in previous observations of Webb, which implies problems with our understanding of phosphorus chemistry.
“Before webb is expected that phosphine will be abundant in atmospheres exoplanets and brown dwarfs, following theoretical forecasts based on turbulent mixing, which, as we know, exists in these sources,” said Dr. Sam Bayler, a postdoxo -college of Dublin.
Wolf 1130C was a favorite source of Brown Dwarf astronomers from its low -content of “metals” – essentially any elements except hydrogen and helium – compared to the sun.
Unlike other brown dwarfs, the authors noticed phosphin in the infrared spectral data of WEBBA Wolf 1130C.
To fully understand the consequences of their conclusions, they needed to quantify the abundance of this gas in the atmosphere of Wolf 1130C.
“To determine the abundance of molecules in Wolf 1130C, I used the modeling method known as atmospheric search,” said Dr. Eilin Gonzalez from the atmospheric university.
“This method uses Webb data to retreat, how many molecular gases should be in the atmosphere.”
“It's like a reverse engineering, really tasty cookies when the chief -porch did not refuse the recipe.”
“It may happen that under normal conditions, phosphorus is connected in another molecule, such as phosphorus trioxide,” said Dr. Bayler.
“In an atmosphere blocked by Wolf 1130c metal, there is not enough oxygen to take phosphorus, which allows phosfin to form of abundant hydrogen.”
Another possibility is that phosphorus was created locally in the Wolf 1130ABC system, in particular, White Dwarf Wolf 1130b.
“The white dwarf is the remaining husk of a star who completed the merger of her hydrogen,” said Professor Burgasser.
“They are so dense that when they accumulate material on their surface, they can be subjected to unbridled nuclear reactions, which we find as new.”
While astronomers did not see evidence of such events in the Wolf 1130ABC system in recent history, NOVAE usually has outbreaks of outbreaks of thousands of thousands of thousands.
This system was known a little over a century, and the early invisible outbreaks could leave the legacy of phosphorus pollution.
An understanding of why this brown dwarf shows a clear signature of phosphin can lead to a new understanding of phosphorus synthesis in the Milky Way and its chemistry in planetary atmospheres.
“The understanding of phosphin chemistry in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs, where we do not expect that life is crucial if we hope to use this molecule in search of life on ground worlds outside our solar system,” said Professor Burgasser.
A study Will appear today in the magazine ScienceField
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Adam J. Burgasser and othersThe field observation of the shortcomings of phosphin in the atmosphere of a low -temperature brown dwarf. Sciencepublished online on October 2, 2025; DOI: 10.1126/science.Adu0401
