How NASA's Webb captured the rare sight of dying star
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare sight of a dying star right before it goes out with a supernova explosion. The Wolf-Rayet star—called WR 124—is among the most luminous and massive stars. It lies in the constellation Sagittarius, 15,000 light-years away, meaning light from the star has been traveling through space for 15,000 years until it was picked up by Webb.
Why does this story matter?
Only some massive stars undergo a brief Wolf-Rayet phase before heading for a bright, super-powerful explosion known as a supernova. The rarity of the event makes this particular Webb observation all the more interesting. Claimed to be the world's most powerful telescope that has been launched to date, the Webb telescope has been providing stunning glimpses of the cosmos.
WR 124 is 30 times the mass of the Sun
Wolf-Rayet stars are in the process of shedding their outer layers, resulting in their characteristic halos of gas and dust. WR 124 is 30 times the mass of the Sun and has cast off 10 Suns' worth of material. As the ejected gas moves away from the star and cools, the cosmic dust forms and glows in the infrared light, which Webb can detect.
Astronomers are particularly interested in cosmic dust that survives supernovas
Astronomers are particularly interested in cosmic dust that survives a supernova blast. For one, dust forms an integral part of the workings of the universe. It also "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," as per NASA.
Webb could shed light on the universe's "dust budget surplus"
There is more dust in the universe than what the current dust-formation theories can explain, say astronomers. At present, the universe is said to be operating with a "dust budget surplus," which could be better understood based on observations from the Webb telescope. Further, cosmic dust is best observed in infrared wavelengths, which is the type of light that Webb is optimized to observe.
There wasn't enough information about stars like WR-124 before Webb
"Before Webb, dust-loving astronomers simply did not have enough detailed information to explore questions of dust production in environments like WR 124, and whether the dust grains were large and bountiful enough to survive the supernova and become a significant contribution to the overall dust budget," said NASA in a blog post. "Now those questions can be investigated with real data."
