#astronomy #stars #WolfRayetStar #WR124 #JWST
An image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope shows the star WR 124 and the surrounding nebula in never-before-seen detail. This is a case where a star is nearing the end of its life, which could culminate in a supernova.
Since JWST dropped a picture of WR 124 recently, I think it's time to repost my little painting of WR 124 as seen by Hubble
I'll need to paint the JWST version! ☺️
#Astrodon #WR124 #JWST #Art #Mastoart #SpaceArt #SciArt #Astronomy #AcrylicPainting #Acrylics #Hubble #WolfRayetStar
This study from 2012, using 24 µm data from Spitzer, revealed that the ionized gas of nebula M1-67 ejected by WR 124 is condensed in knots aligned in a preferred axis along the NE-SW direction, with “holes” along the perpendicular direction.
The sketch below illustrates the (proposed) structure as an inner region with bipolar or elliptical shape along the direction NE−SW surrounded by an external spherical bubble.
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/pdf/2013/06/aa20773-12.pdf
#JWST #WR124 #WolfRayet
3/n
A Wolf-Rayet star is a rare prelude to the famous final act of a massive star: the supernova. As one of its first observations in 2022, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope captured the Wolf-Rayet star WR 124 in unprecedented detail. A distinctive halo of gas and dust frames the star and glows in the infrared light detected by Webb, displaying knotty structure and a history of episodic ejections. Despite being the scene of an impending stellar ‘death’, astronomers also look to Wolf-Rayet stars for insight into new beginnings. Cosmic dust is forming in the turbulent nebulas surrounding these stars, dust that is composed of the heavy-element building blocks of the modern Universe, including life on Earth.
Massimo Luciani
Dr Laurence Datrier
AkaSci 🛰️
Steve Laskevitch