Brown dwarf stars may host auroras of their own -- ones 10,000 more powerful than any seen before.

The phenomenon was described in a paper published Wednesday in Nature.

On Earth and other planets, auroras occur when charged particles from the sun interact with the planet's magnetic field and collide with gas atoms in the atmosphere, exciting them and creating a visible glow. Any planet with a magnetic field is bound to host such a light show.

But to understand how a star can host a phenomenon associated with planets, you need to know that brown dwarfs are somewhere in between stellar and planetary status. They're bigger than gas giant planets like Jupiter, but smaller than other stars. Some are too small to maintain the fusion of hydrogen, which makes them pretty lousy by star standards.