Overview

• An international team used the James Webb Space Telescope to detect auroras on SIMP-0136 roughly 20 light-years from Earth.
• JWST measurements show the brown dwarf’s upper atmosphere warms by about 250°C during auroral activity.
• SIMP-0136 completes a rotation every 2.4 hours, with brightness and temperature varying in step with that period.
• Researchers identify it as the smallest known object beyond the Solar System with auroras, offering a close analog to directly observed exoplanets near the planet–brown-dwarf boundary.
• The findings, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, highlight JWST’s ability to detect temperature shifts as small as about 5°C at this distance.