Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) balances the brightness of WR 124’s stellar core and the knotty details in the fainter surrounding gas. Webb opens up new possibilities for studying details in cosmic dust, which is best observed in infrared wavelengths of light. The universe is operating with a dust budget surplus. Despite the many essential roles that dust plays, there is still more dust in the universe than astronomers’ current dust-formation theories can explain. Dust is integral to the workings of the universe: It shelters forming stars, gathers together to help form planets, and serves as a platform for molecules to form and clump together – including the building blocks of life on Earth. The origin of cosmic dust that can survive a supernova blast and contribute to the universe’s overall “dust budget” is of great interest to astronomers for multiple reasons. As the ejected gas moves away from the star and cools, cosmic dust forms and glows in the infrared light detectable by Webb. The star WR 124 is 30 times the mass of the Sun and has shed 10 Suns’ worth of material – so far. Wolf-Rayet stars are in the process of casting off their outer layers, resulting in their characteristic halos of gas and dust. Massive stars race through their lifecycles, and only some of them go through a brief Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova, making Webb’s detailed observations of this rare phase valuable to astronomers. The star is 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta. Webb shows the star, WR 124, in unprecedented detail with its powerful infrared instruments. The rare sight of a Wolf-Rayet star – among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly detectable stars known – was one of the first observations made by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in June 2022. view moreĬredit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team Image: The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is prominent at the center of the James Webb Space Telescope’s composite image combining near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument.
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