Astronomers have long predicted that the cloud forming chemical should be found in the atmospheres of brown dwarfs and gas giants. Silane had eluded detection until now. In this podcast, Dr. Aaron Meisner recounts how silane was discovered in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf nicknamed "The Accident". The Accident (WISEA J153429.75-104303.3) was discovered by citizen scientist Dan Caselden, who was using an online program he built to find brown dwarfs in NEOWISE data. Bios: Rob Sparks is in the Communications, Education and Engagement group at NSF's NOIRLab in Tucson, Arizona. Aaron Meisner is an astronomer at NSF NOIRLab affiliated with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and also a 2025-2026 Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University. He specializes in building astronomical maps using large data sets at visible and infrared wavelengths. These maps are used to search for moving celestial objects, like new neighbors to the Sun and hypothesized planets in the far reaches of our own solar system. To this end, Aaron co-founded the popular Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project and the Backyard Worlds: Cool Neighbors project. Press release: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2526/?nocache=true& https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia24578-an-accidental-discovery/ https://aasnova.org/2021/07/02/observing-the-accident-an-enigmatic-brown-dwarf/ We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs. Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too! Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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