Scientists detailed a massive storm at a small brown dwarf star that resembles the storm creating the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the new study detailed a star called W1906+40 about 53 light years from Earth. The star is the first evidence of a star with this kind of storm, but more surprising is the star is about the same size as Jupiter, if not smaller.
"The star is the size of Jupiter, and its storm is the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot," study lead author John Gizis, of the University of Delaware, said in a press release. "We know this newfound storm has lasted at least two years, and probably longer.
"We don't know if this kind of star storm is unique or common, and we don't why it persists for so long."
If the W1906+40 storm is anything like Jupiter's, it will not die down any time soon. According to The Washington Post, Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been a continual storm for the hundreds of years since humans noticed it.
"While planets have been known to have cloudy storms, this is the best evidence yet for a star that has one," NASA stated in the release. "The star, referred to as W1906+40, belongs to a thermally cool class of objects called L-dwarfs. Some L-dwarfs are considered stars because they fuse atoms and generate light, as our sun does, while others, called brown dwarfs, are known as 'failed stars' for their lack of atomic fusion."
