This #JWST mid-infrared image shows four coiled shells of dust around a pair of Wolf-Rayet #stars known as #Apep for the first time. Previous observations by other telescopes showed only one.

JWST data, combined with observations from the #VLT, confirmed that the two Wolf-Rayet stars sail past one another approximately every 190 years. Over each orbit, they make a close pass for 25 years, producing and spewing amorphous carbon dust.

JWST new data also confirmed that there are three stars gravitationally bound to one another in this system. Holes are “sliced” into these shells by the third #star, a massive supergiant.

#astronomy
https://esawebb.org/images/wolf-rayet-apep/?utm_source=badastronomy.beehiiv.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=a-ridiculously-jaw-dropping-jwst-image-of-a-fantastically-terrifying-star-system

The Rare Triple Star Apep

https://tube.blueben.net/w/seYhQHAyjCgtahiPpmaMpC

#Apep: Unusual #DustShells from #Webb
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251124.html

#APOD #JWST

Hot new #JWST image just dropped.

This is WR 70–16, a triple-star system better known as "Apep" after the mortal enemy of the sun god Ra in Egyptian mythology. The main pair of stars in the system is a rare binary composed of two Wolf–Rayet stars. These are evolved, massive stars that have completely lost their outer hydrogen atmospheres and are fusing helium (or heavier elements) in their cores. In time, these objects are thought to turn into supernovae. A third, hot supergiant star orbits the binary Wolf-Rayet stars with an orbital period of at least 10,000 years.

Wolf-Rayet stats are cosmic dust-making factories. A vast complex of cosmic dust shaped by furious stellar winds surrounds the system. The orbiting star/dust sources produces a pinwheel effect near the center of the image.

It's a highly dynamic system. According to NASA, "When the two Wolf-Rayet stars approach and pass one another, their strong stellar winds collide and mix, forming and casting out heaps of carbon-rich dust for a quarter century at a time." The dust produced by systems like this goes on to contribute to the formation of the next generation of both stars and planets.

Read more about this image on: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/webb-first-to-show-4-dust-shells-spiraling-apep-limits-long-orbit/

#Astronomy #Apep #Stars #StellarEvolution

Webb witnesses a feasting supermassive black hole in the early Universe

#apep #canadianspaceagency #canucslrdz86 #cosmos #csa #esa #esawebb #europeanspaceagency

⏩ 3 new pictures from ESA (Flickr) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ListFiles?limit=3&user=OptimusPrimeBot&ilshowall=1&offset=20251120001115

Excited to now share this story; papers have been accepted!

Apep is an awesome system, unlike any other we know about. It is named after the Egyptian God of Chaos - because, well, it is chaos!

Two Wolf-Rayet systems orbited by a third supergiant. As all their winds collide, they form these beautiful structures that have now been observed with #JWST and ESO's VLT.

I had a chat with fellow student from Macquarie Uni. Ryan White who has led one of the two papers that are released about this.

My latest for #SpaceAustralia

https://www.spaceaustralia.com/news/order-amongst-chaos-apep

📸 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Simulation: Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University); Visualization: Christian Nieves (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

#Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #Apep #Science #WolfRayet