British astronomers have reached an intriguing conclusion: that life does not necessarily have to originate on Earth-like planets and that it is also possible to register the activity of certain organisms in the upper layers of brown dwarf stars as well.
Brown dwarfs are objects which science discovered at the end of the last millennium. Astronomers believe that they are the transitional states between stars and planets. Since their mass is too small for the presence of any thermonuclear processes in their cores, they burn out and then cool.
These bodies have not yet been thoroughly studied by scientists but over the years they have learned quite some fascinating things about them. For example, for some time now, it's been hypothesized that they undergo seasonal changes, as well as many other phenomena by which they more closely resemble planets, rather than stars.
At the same time, they are sources of elements such as oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, which means that some form of life may exist on them.
To expand on their theory, experts have conducted several calculations, in turn reaching the conclusion that in the absence of an air current, brown dwarfs could be home to organisms about 10 times smaller than an average bacteria found on Earth. If there are strong air currents, these same stars could harbor larger bacteria.
