The James Webb Space Telescope has taken an astonishingly detailed image of a Wolf-Rayet star as it blows off its outer layers in preparation to go supernova
IMAGE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production TeamJames Webb Space Telescope
has captured a beautiful image of a massive star, known as a Wolf-Rayet star, that has begun to shed its outer layers before exploding in a supernova. This star is called WR 124, and it is about 30 times as massive as the sun. When stars that huge run out of hydrogen to burn in their core, they begin to fuse heavier elements instead. This fusion creates powerful blasts of energy, blowing out gusts of wind at velocities in the millions of kilometres per hour.
The powerful winds strip away the outer layers of the star, resulting in a huge cloud of dust and gas like the one revealed by this JWST image. Researchers calculated that WR 124 has already lost about 10 times the mass of the sun.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Webb Telescope Reveals Jaw-Dropping New Image Of A Massive Star About To Go SupernovaNASA mission experts have unveiled a stunning new image of a huge star on the cusp of exploding, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Read more »
James Webb captures a majestic view of star formation's earliest stagesJames Webb has captured a breathtaking view of the early stages of star formation found within spiral galaxies.
Read more »
James Webb Space Telescope spots huge star about to go supernova (video, photos)The star is about 30 times more massive than our sun and has already shed 10 suns' worth of gas and dust.
Read more »
JWST Sees So Many Galaxies, and It's Just Getting StartedHubble Space Telescope’s Deep Field revealed thousands of galaxies in a seemingly empty spot in the sky. Now, the James Webb Space Telescope has taken deep field observations to the next level with its COSMOS-Web survey, revealing 25,000 galaxies in just six pictures, the first from this new survey. “It’s incredibly exciting to get … Continue reading 'JWST Sees So Many Galaxies, and It's Just Getting Started'
Read more »
The JWST captures a rare star about to go nova | EngadgetThe capture you see above shows WR 124, a star located in the constellation Sagittarius, approximately 15,000 light years away from Earth..
Read more »
Webb Spots Globular Cluster Sparkling With Separate Stars in the Milky Way HaloOn June 20, 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope spent just over one hour staring at Messier 92 (M92), a globular cluster 27,000 light-years away in the Milky Way halo. The observation – among the very first science observations undertaken by Webb – is part of Early Release Science (ERS) program 133
Read more »