A detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf 54 light-years from Earth deepens the mystery of phosphorus chemistry throughout the Milky Way.

An ancient object more than 10 billion years old, Wolf 1130C has phosphine at an abundance of about 100 parts per billion, a team led by astrophysicist Adam Burgasser of the University of California, San Diego has discovered.

It's the first and so far only clear detection of phosphine (PH 3 ) in a brown dwarf. The abundance is consistent with what models predict, but this presents a problem: PH 3 's absence in other brown dwarfs.

This means there might be something missing in our understanding of phosphorus chemistry, throwing PH 3 's status as a potential biosignature into disarray. The finding reinforces that PH 3 's role a

See Full Page