A star that will become a supernova in a huge explosion that is so dazzling was recorded by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Photo/NASA/ESA/Webb
This image released by NASA, Tuesday, March 14, 2023, shows the Wolf-Mayet star, codenamed WR 124, in the middle of a spectacular cosmic cloud. When a supernova occurs, the star, which is about 30 solar masses, sheds its outer layers.
So far, the star WR 124 has ejected material worth more than 10 solar masses. This is a rare phenomenon rarely seen in the life cycle of some stars called the Wolf-Rayet (WR) phase.
“Massive stars race through their life cycles, and only a few of them go through the brief Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova. Webb’s (JWST) detailed observations of this rare phase are of value to astronomers,” wrote a NASA official quoted by SINDOnews from the Live Science page, Saturday (18/3/2023).
JWST first took photos of WR 124 in June 2022, just moments after it started operating. The halo of the star is captured in unprecedented detail.
This is thanks to the telescope’s ability to detect the infrared light of gas as it cools to form cosmic dust. “The cloud can survive the supernova collapse of a star and contribute to the amount of dust in the universe,” wrote NASA.
On October 13, 2022, astronomers invented an early warning system to watch for supernova explosions as they occur. As seen in this image of WR 124, a thick cocoon of dust surrounding the star formed around the star in the last few months before it exploded.
After a supernova event, all that is left of a star is a solid core, which can turn into a neutron star. Last year, scientists discovered a dead neutron star on a collision course with a massive star.
They think it will explode in a fiery kilonova, an explosion caused by the two star remnants magnifying each other. JWST’s observations like these could shed light on the mysterious origins of all these events.
(wib)
