NASA continues to share photos captured by the James Webb Space Telescope that fascinate the whole world. Long seeking answers to questions about our universe, the space telescope has now captured stunning images of the star WR 124, which is about to explode some 15,000 light-years from Earth.NASA caught a rare star about to explode
Last June, NASA observed that WR 124 was going through a Wolf-Rayet phase. We can define Wolf-Rayet stars as stars that are in the advanced stage of their evolution and lose a lot of mass due to the stellar wind. According to the space agency, only some massive stars experience this transition, and the process ultimately results in a cosmic explosion.
The image you see above shows WR 124, a star in the constellation Sagittarius, about 15,000 light-years from Earth. NASA estimates that the star is 30 times the size of the Sun and has ejected about 10 Suns’ worth of material so far. After this point, the ejected gas will cool and cause the formation of cosmic dust.Today, cosmic dust is considered one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. Therefore, astronomers want to learn more about the formation and distribution of cosmic dust. However, there is currently no theory to explain how much cosmic dust is in the universe. On the other hand, the James Webb Space Telescope could be an important tool to solve this mystery.
Indeed, NASA said in a statement, “Before Webb, astronomers didn’t have enough detailed information to investigate questions of dust generation in environments like WR 124, and they didn’t know whether dust grains survived the supernova and became a major contributor to the overall dust budget. Now, with real data, these questions are can be explored.” uttered his words.
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