Overview

• A Nature study reports silane (SiH4) in the atmosphere of brown dwarf WISEA J153429.75-104303.3, the first such detection in any brown dwarf, exoplanet, or Solar System object.
• Researchers interpret the molecule’s presence as evidence that the object formed in a low-metallicity environment where limited oxygen left silicon available to form silane.
• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provided the decisive spectra after the target was flagged in 2020 by a Backyard Worlds citizen scientist and detected from the ground with Gemini South.
• The result supports models in which, on younger oxygen-rich gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, silicon binds into heavier oxides that condense and sink beyond observable layers.
• The object lies about 50 light-years away, is estimated to be 10–12 billion years old, and also shows methane and water features, offering a benchmark for cloud and chemistry models on gas giants and exoplanets.