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SPHEREx observations of 37 nearby brown dwarfs revealed atmospheric signatures of water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. The spectra also vary from object to object—including among brown dwarfs at similar temperatures—showing why their atmospheres remain challenging to model.
What did SPHEREx find in brown dwarf atmospheres?
In a NASA report published October 8, 2026, researchers described analyzing SPHEREx spectra of 37 nearby brown dwarfs spanning a broad temperature range. The spectra contain signatures of four molecules: water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. These are molecular fingerprints in the light measured from the objects, not direct images of molecules or surface features. NASA/JPL’s report describes the findings.
The reported pattern is not a single spectrum shared by all brown dwarfs. Molecular signatures change across the observed temperature range, and objects with similar temperatures can still have distinct spectra. As study coauthor and IPAC scientist J. Davy Kirkpatrick put it, “We’re seeing the signatures of these molecules and how they change from object to object across the entire temperature regime.”
How does SPHEREx study brown dwarfs?
SPHEREx is a NASA infrared space telescope managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It launched on March 11, 2025. Its primary mission maps the sky, and those observations also provide a chance to study brown dwarfs. NASA says the telescope measures brightness in 102 different colors; its infrared coverage is 0.75–5.0 micrometers. Some of these wavelengths are difficult or impossible to observe from the ground because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs them.
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IPAC’s mission overview describes a nominal 25-month plan to map the entire sky four times. The wide survey supplies spectra for many objects, while the 37 brown dwarfs in the report are the sample discussed in this result—not the full population the team expects to study. NASA says thousands more objects are being analyzed.
Why are brown dwarfs different from stars and planets?
Brown dwarfs form from collapsing gas clouds, as stars do, but they do not have enough mass to sustain hydrogen fusion in their cores. NASA describes them as dimly glowing, warm gas objects that share characteristics with giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. Their spectra offer clues to the molecules in their atmospheres and how those signatures vary; they do not by themselves provide a complete account of atmospheric weather.
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Why do brown dwarfs have different spectra?
The observations show variation, but they do not establish one cause for every difference. NASA’s account describes some objects in a cloudy transition phase: as clouds thin, methane-rich atmospheric features become more apparent. That reported pattern is also where current models have difficulty reproducing the data.
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Lead author and IPAC scientist Zafar Rustamkulov said, “The state-of-the-art models are capturing the general chemical trend, but when it comes to these cloudy transitions, the models are struggling to match the data.” In other words, models can capture broad chemical trends while still missing details in spectra associated with cloud changes. The study is a modeling challenge, not a settled explanation of every brown dwarf’s climate.
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How can you explore SPHEREx data?
NASA says the SPHEREx dataset is freely available to scientists and the public. IPAC describes data processing and archive access through the SPHEREx Science Data Center and NASA’s Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Start with the NASA SPHEREx mission page or the IPAC SPHEREx mission and data resources to find mission information and archive entry points.
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