Overview

• A peer-reviewed Science paper reports a clear JWST detection of phosphine in Wolf 1130C’s atmosphere.
• Atmospheric retrievals led by Eileen Gonzales estimate an abundance near 100 parts per billion from the infrared spectrum.
• Wolf 1130C is a cool, low-metallicity brown dwarf about 54 light-years away in the Wolf 1130ABC system.
• One proposed explanation is that low metallicity limits oxygen, allowing phosphorus to remain in phosphine rather than oxidized compounds.
• The team also considers phosphorus enrichment from the system’s white dwarf as a possibility, and plans JWST follow-ups to test models after prior nondetections elsewhere.