The binary star known as WR 140 is over 5,000 light years from Earth. The rings around the binary system were formed by the compression of stellar winds as stars approached, bringing their orbits together about once every eight years. When they meet, the gases between them are compressed to form dust.
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“We have been observing dust production in this system for over a century,” said astronomer Ryan Lau, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
17 rings
“Previous observations of WR 140 have shown the presence of up to three rings. It’s amazing to see 17 of them like this, it shows the power of the James Webb Telescope, “study co-author Olivia Jones of the UK Astronomy and Technology Center (UK ATC) in Edinburgh, who helped build the telescope, told the BBC.
These cosmic “tree rings” tell a story written by the stars.
Every 8 years, these 2 stars are merged from their orbits, creating streams of gas which can then form a new dust ring. Webb first reveals 15 of the 17 rings here: https://t.co/k93phPNoec pic.twitter.com/7JHvpsd1A2
– NASA’s Hallo-Webb telescope 🕸🕷🎃 (@NASAWebb) 12 October 2022
The stars of the WR 140 binary system are several times larger than the Sun: one has a mass thirty times our star, the other about ten times the mass.
Both cosmic bodies will approach each other roughly the distance between the Earth and the Sun, which is about 150 million kilometers. The unique pattern of the ring is caused by the elongated orbit of the smallest of the stars.
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The James Webb Telescope has been observing the universe from a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth since January of this year. The device, the most powerful of its kind to date, worth ten billion dollars (245 billion CZK), is a project of NASA and partners of the European Space Agency ESA and the Canadian CSA.
