Webb captures breathtaking image of star on the cusp of stellar death

The James Webb Space Telescope has caught a Wolf-Rayet star before its impending death in a supernova explosion. These observations will help astronomers answer important questions about the universe's evolution.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured this image and observations of the dying star WR 124. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team)

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One of the first observations of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022 is equally, if not more impressive than the ones that came before. Webb captured the Wolf-Rayet star WR 124 in unprecedented detail before its impending “stellar death.”

Despite being on the cusp of death, the star could give astronomers new insights into the new beginnings of other celestial objects. In the turbulent nebula surrounding such stars, cosmic dust forms. This cosmic dust is made of the heavy-element building blocks of the modern Universe, including life on Earth.

Why astronomers are interested in such Wolf-Rayet stars

According to Swinburne University in Australia, Wolf-Rayet stars are massive stars that are near the end of their stellar evolution. They are typically more than 25 times the mass the Sun and lose this mass at a very high rate.

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Wolf-Rayet stars are a rare sight and are among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly-detectable stars known to scientists. WR-124 is situated about 15,000 light-years away from our planet in the constellation Sagittarius.

Also read | Scientists want to deploy telescope on the far side of Moon to explore universe’s ‘Dark Ages’

Unlike smaller stars like our Sun, more massive ones usually fast forward through their life cycles. But not all of them go through the brief Wolf-Rayet phase before becoming a supernova. This makes Webb’s new observations more valuable to astronomers. These stars are usually in the process of casting off their outer layers, which leads to the formation of the characteristic halos of gas and dust around them.

WR 124 is around 30 times the mass of our Sun and has shed material that is about the mass of 10 Suns so far. Cosmic dust is formed as this ejected gas moves away from this star. As this dust cools, it glows in infrared light, which Webb can detect very well.

Wolf-Rayet stars, cosmic dust and the universe’s dust budget

The formation of this cosmic dust that can survive a supernova blast is of great interest to astronomers since it contributes to the Universe’s overall “dust budget.”

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The universe would not really work if it weren’t for the dust in it. The dust shelters forming stars while gathering together to help form planets. It serves as a “platform” for molecules to form and clump together—including the kind of molecules that were the building blocks of life on Earth.

Despite the importance of the role that dust plays, astronomers’ current dust-formation theories and models do not account for the large amount of dust in the universe. In a way, our universe has a dust budget surplus.

🆕 Webb captures the rare scene of an impending stellar ‘death’ — the Wolf-Rayet star WR 124. Read more here: https://t.co/RlR4AJzuix and in 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/6wFRQUtEYn

— ESA Webb Telescope (@ESA_Webb) March 14, 2023

Using the Webb telescope to reveal the dust’s secret

Due to its advanced infrared capabilities, the Webb telescope opens up new possibilities for studying details in this cosmic dust. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) balances the brightness of WR 124’s stellar core and the knotty details in the fainter surrounding gas.

MIRI (Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument) reveals the clumpy structure of the gas and the dust nebula surrounding the star. Before the Webb telescope, astronomers simply did not have enough detailed information to explore dust formations in cosmic environments like near WR 124, according to NASA.

Now, thanks to Webb’s detailed observations, astronomers can answer the questions we have about the universe’s dust with robust scientific data.