universityofcaliforniasantacruz
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Scientists find the first water clouds beyond the Solar System
At last, astronomers have found evidence of watery clouds beyond our home star... only they're not hovering around a planet, like you might expect. UC Santa Cruz-led researchers have discovered signs of water vapor clouds around WISE 0855, a brown dwarf (that is, gas and dust that failed to become a star) a relatively close 7.2 light years away. The team had to use tricky infrared spectrum analysis to spot signs of water absorption around the dwarf, which is so cold and faint (-10F) that visible light and near-infrared studies wouldn't work.
