(Press-News.org) Phosphorus is one of six key elements necessary for life on Earth. When combined with hydrogen, phosphorus forms the molecule phosphine (PH3), an explosive, highly toxic gas. Found in the atmospheres of the gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, phosphine has long been recognized as a possible biosignature for anaerobic life, as there are few natural sources of this gas in the atmospheres of terrestrial planets. On Earth, phosphine is a byproduct of decaying organic swamp matter.
Now a team of researchers, led by University of California San Diego Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Adam Burgasser, has reported the detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of a cool, ancient brown dwarf named Wolf 1130C. Their work appears in Science.
Phosphine was detected in Wolf 1130C’s atmosphere using observations obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the first telescope with the sensitivity to look at these celestial objects in detail. The mystery, however, is not why phosphine was found, but why it’s missing in other brown dwarf and gas giant exoplanet atmospheres.
“Our astronomy program, called Arcana of the Ancients, focuses on old, metal-poor brown dwarfs as a means of testing our understanding of atmospheric chemistry,” said lead author Burgasser. “Understanding the problem with phosphine was one of our first goals.”
In the hydrogen-rich atmospheres of gas giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, phosphine forms naturally. As such, scientists have long predicted that phosphine should be present in the atmospheres of gas giants orbiting other stars, and in their more massive cousins, brown dwarfs — objects sometimes called “failed stars” because they do not fuse hydrogen.
Yet phosphine has largely eluded detection, even in prior JWST observations, suggesting problems with our understanding of phosphorus chemistry. “Prior to JWST, phosphine was expected to be abundant in exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheres, following theoretical predictions based on the turbulent mixing we know exists in these sources,” said co-author Sam Beiler, who recently graduated from the University of Toledo and is now postdoctoral scholar at Trinity College Dublin.
Beiler, who has led previous work studying the lack of phosphine in brown dwarfs, stated, "Every observation we've obtained with JWST has challenged the theoretical predictions — that is until we observed Wolf 1130C.”
In the star system Wolf 1130ABC, located 54 light-years from the sun in the constellation Cygnus, the brown dwarf Wolf 1130C follows a wide orbit around a tight double star system, composed of a cool red star (Wolf 1130A) and a massive white dwarf (Wolf 1130B). Wolf 1130C has been a favorite source for brown dwarf astronomers due to its low abundance of “metals” – essentially any elements other than hydrogen and helium – compared to the sun.
Unlike other brown dwarfs, the team easily spotted phosphine in JWST’s infrared spectral data of Wolf 1130C. To fully understand the implications of their findings, they needed to quantify the abundance of this gas in Wolf 1130C's atmosphere. This was done by Assistant Professor of Astronomy at San Francisco State University Eileen Gonzales, also a co-author on the study.
“To determine the abundances of molecules in Wolf 1130C, I used a modeling technique known as atmospheric retrievals," explained Gonzales. "This technique uses the JWST data to back out how much of each molecular gas species should be in the atmosphere. It’s like reverse engineering a really delicious cookie when the chef wouldn’t give up the recipe.”
Gonzales’s models showed that abundant phosphine was the secret ingredient in Wolf 1130C. Specifically, she found that phosphine was present at the predicted theoretical abundances of about 100 parts per billion.
While the researchers are delighted by their discovery, it raises an issue: why is phosphine present in the atmosphere of this brown dwarf and not others?
One possibility is the low abundance of metals in Wolf 1130C’s atmosphere, which may change its underlying chemistry. “It may be that in normal conditions phosphorus is bound up in another molecule such as phosphorus trioxide,” explained Beiler. “In the metal-depleted atmosphere of Wolf 1130C, there isn’t enough oxygen to take up the phosphorus, allowing phosphine to form from the abundant hydrogen.”
The team hopes to explore this possibility with new JWST observations that will search for phosphine in the atmospheres of other metal-poor brown dwarfs.
Another possibility is that phosphorus was generated locally in the Wolf 1130ABC system, specifically by its white dwarf, Wolf 1130B.
"A white dwarf is the leftover husk of a star that has finished fusing its hydrogen," explained Burgasser. "They are so dense that when they accrete material on their surface they can undergo runaway nuclear reactions, which we detect as novae.”
While astronomers haven't seen evidence of such events in the Wolf 1130ABC system in recent history, novae typically have outburst cycles of thousands to tens of thousands of years. This system has been known for just over a century, and early, unseen outbursts could have left a legacy of phosphorus pollution. Earlier research studies have proposed that a significant fraction of phosphorus in the Milky Way could have been synthesized by this process.
Understanding why this one brown dwarf shows a clear signature of phosphine may lead to new insights into the synthesis of phosphorus in the Milky Way and its chemistry in planetary atmospheres. Explained Burgasser, “Understanding phosphine chemistry in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs where we don’t expect life is crucial if we hope to use this molecule in the search for life on terrestrial worlds beyond our solar system.”
This study was funded in part by NASA/STScI (NAS 5-03127 and AR-2232) and the Heising-Simons Foundation.
END
Detection of phosphine in a brown dwarf atmosphere raises more questions
Astronomers found the elusive gas on Wolf 1130C but wonder why it’s not more prevalent in other brown dwarfs
2025-10-02
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
USF study: Ancient plankton hint at steadier future for ocean life
2025-10-02
Key takeaways:
By analyzing rare nitrogen isotopes in 5-million-year-old plankton fossils, researchers reconstructed past Pacific Ocean conditions to better forecast the future.
Even during the warmer Pliocene Epoch, nutrient-rich upwelling in the tropical Pacific remained stable, sustaining marine productivity.
The findings challenge predictions of a fisheries collapse.
TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2025) – A team of scientists has uncovered a rare isotope in microscopic fossils, offering fresh evidence that ocean ...
MIT researchers find a simple formula could guide the design of faster-charging, longer-lasting batteries
2025-10-02
CAMBIRDGE, MA -- At the heart of all lithium-ion batteries is a simple reaction: Lithium ions dissolved in an electrolyte solution “intercalate” or insert themselves into a solid electrode during battery discharge. When they de-intercalate and return to the electrolyte, the battery charges.
This process happens thousands of times throughout the life of a battery. The amount of power that the battery can generate, and how quickly it can charge, depend on how fast this reaction happens. However, little is known about the exact mechanism of this reaction, or ...
Towards efficient room-temperature fluorine recovery from fluoropolymers
2025-10-02
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluorine-based polymer with a wide range of applications, including non-stick cookware production and electrical and optical fiber cable coating, owing to its high durability, thermal stability, and low friction. Ironically, its durability also presents an environmental challenge for its disposal. PTFE is mainly disposed of via incineration, landfilling, and defluorination. However, incineration requires high energy and involves the release of hydrogen fluoride, which is highly corrosive. Meanwhile, landfilling leads to an environmental burden of undegraded PTFE. By contrast, defluorination, in ...
Mapping RNA-protein 'chats' could uncover new treatments for cancer and brain disease
2025-10-02
Bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a powerful new technology that can map the entire network of RNA-protein interactions inside human cells — an achievement that could offer new strategies for treating diseases ranging from cancer to Alzheimer’s.
RNA-protein interactions regulate many essential processes in cells, from turning genes on and off to responding to stress. But until now, scientists could only capture small subsets of these interactions, leaving much of the cellular “conversation” hidden.
“This technology is like a wiring map of the cell’s conversations,” said ...
The hidden burden of solitude: How social withdrawal influences the adolescent brain
2025-10-02
Adolescence is a period of social reorientation: a shift from a world centered on parents and family to one shaped by peers, schools, and broader networks. This expansion is critical for healthy development, but it also heightens susceptibility to social stressors. When those stressors lead young people to withdraw — choosing solitude more often than connection — the brain itself may be altered.
Using brain imaging and behavioral data, Caterina Stamoulis, PhD, and her team in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital have found that adolescents who are ...
Kidney disease study reveals unexpected marker
2025-10-02
When University of Texas at Arlington researcher Paul J. Fadel and his colleagues launched a study on vascular health in people with chronic kidney disease, they expected to better understand a long-standing belief. For years, scientists have pointed to a blood marker called ADMA—asymmetric dimethylarginine—as a warning sign for vascular problems.
But the team’s findings, recently published in the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology, told a different story.
Instead, another blood marker, SDMA—symmetric dimethylarginine—long considered mostly inactive, showed a stronger connection to vascular health than ADMA.
“The ...
AI wrote nearly a quarter of corporate press releases in 2024
2025-10-02
Since 2022, American companies, consumers, and even the United Nations have used large language models—artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as ChatGPT that are trained to create text that reads like human-generated writing. In a study publishing October 2 in the Cell Press journal Patterns, researchers reveal that AI is used in an average of 17% of analyzed corporate and governmental written content, from job posts to press releases, and this rate will likely continue to increase.
“This is the first comprehensive review of the use of AI-assisted ...
The ‘big bad wolf’ fears the human ‘super predator’ – for good reason
2025-10-02
The ‘big bad wolf’ fears the human ‘super predator’ – for good reason
Fear of the fabled ‘big bad wolf’ has dominated the public perception of wolves for millennia and strongly influences current debates concerning human-wildlife conflict. Humans both fear wolves and, perhaps more importantly, are concerned about wolves losing their fear of humans – because if they fear us, they avoid us and that offers protection.
A new Western University study shows that even where laws are in place to protect them, wolves fully fear the human ‘super predator.’
These findings ...
Kidney organoid unlocks genetic cause of chronic kidney disease
2025-10-02
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 700 million people worldwide and is caused by genetic and environmental factors, as well as existing medical conditions. Known genetic risk factors for CKD include mutations in a gene called APOL1. These are rare in most populations, but two risk variants are present in as much as 13 percent of people with West African origin and another 38% possess one copy (carriers). The causes for APOL1-mediated kidney disease (AMKD) are currently not well ...
Body composition and cardiometabolic risk in children
2025-10-02
About The Study: This repeated cross-sectional study provides a picture of the evolution of cardiometabolic risk factors in children over the last 30 years, showing that, in Spain, despite the concerning prevalences of excess weight, lipid parameters and blood pressure have improved over the studied period.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Sergio Nunez de Arenas-Arroyo, PhD, email sergio.nunezdearenas@uclm.es.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.35004)
Editor’s ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Rice membrane extracts lithium from brines with greater speed, less waste
Exercise lowers disease risk. This researcher wants to understand how
Hurricane evacuation patterns differ based on where the storm hits
Stem Cell Reports welcomes new members to its Editorial Board
Researchers develop molecular qubits that communicate at telecom frequencies
Mayo Clinic awarded up to $40 million by ARPA-H for pioneering air safety research
People with Down syndrome have early neuroinflammation
CNIO researchers create the “human repairome”, a catalogue of DNA “scars” that will help define personalized cancer treatments
Strengthening biosecurity screening for genes that encode proteins of concern
Global wildfire disasters are growing in frequency and cost
Wildfire management: Reactive response and recovery, or proactive mitigation and prevention
Phosphine detected in the atmosphere of a low-temperature brown dwarf
Scientists develop rapid and scalable platform for in planta directed evolution
New tiny prehistoric fish species unlocks origins of catfish and carp
Plant microbiota: War and peace under the surface
Fossilized ear bones rewrite the history of freshwater fish
Detection of phosphine in a brown dwarf atmosphere raises more questions
USF study: Ancient plankton hint at steadier future for ocean life
MIT researchers find a simple formula could guide the design of faster-charging, longer-lasting batteries
Towards efficient room-temperature fluorine recovery from fluoropolymers
Mapping RNA-protein 'chats' could uncover new treatments for cancer and brain disease
The hidden burden of solitude: How social withdrawal influences the adolescent brain
Kidney disease study reveals unexpected marker
AI wrote nearly a quarter of corporate press releases in 2024
The ‘big bad wolf’ fears the human ‘super predator’ – for good reason
Kidney organoid unlocks genetic cause of chronic kidney disease
Body composition and cardiometabolic risk in children
Use of ambient AI scribes to reduce administrative burden and professional burnout
Newly recognized pathway could protect diabetics from hypoglycemia
Studies find connection between impaired musical rhythm abilities and developmental speech-language disorders
[Press-News.org] Detection of phosphine in a brown dwarf atmosphere raises more questionsAstronomers found the elusive gas on Wolf 1130C but wonder why it’s not more prevalent in other brown dwarfs