Cosmic Dust Rings Spotted by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope
An image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars located about 5,300 light-years from Earth. Each ring was created when the stars came close together, and their colliding stellar winds (streams of gas they blow into space) caused some of the gas to compress into dust. Collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140, the stars’ orbits bring them together about once every eight years, so just like the growth rings of a tree trunk, these dusty loops mark the passage of time: The 17 rings reveal more than a century of stellar interactions. And while other Wolf-Rayet stars produce dust, no other pair is known to produce rings quite like Wolf-Rayet 140. Because the stars’ orbits are elliptical rather than circular, the distance between them changes constantly, and dust forms only when they are close. The amount of dust produced by this interaction varies, so the system doesn’t form a perfect bullseye. One of the densest regions of dust production creates the bright feature repeating at 2 o’clock. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech For more information about the Webb telescope’s mission, visit https://www.nasa.gov/webb.
-
LIVE
Laura Loomer
3 hours agoEP69: LIVE COVERAGE: 4th Night of DNC Convention and Kamala Harris's Speech
2,206 watching -
1:41:21
Kim Iversen
6 hours agoTrump To Make RFK Jr The Next CIA Director? | Democrats Caught LYING About Lower Crime Stats
43.3K103 -
LIVE
WeAreChange
4 hours agoDNC SURPRISE: Who Could Be The Mystery Guest w/ Roger Stone and AJ
4,110 watching -
2:27:10
Fresh and Fit
5 hours agoHodge Twins Meet Fresh&Fit!
60.4K16 -
LIVE
Matt Kim
1 day agoKAAAaamMaLAA DNC Watch PARTY | Get IN HERE
1,510 watching -
1:38:35
Glenn Greenwald
6 hours agoObamas Warn America of Perils of Wealth and Privilege; DNC Remains a Dissidence-Free Affair; Interview with DEM Officials | System Update #320
60.5K92 -
3:15:47
Roseanne Barr
5 hours agoHow they Cheated with Jovan Pulitzer | The Roseanne Barr Podcast #62
73.9K92 -
LIVE
Due Dissidence
11 hours agoLIVE: DNC PROTESTS, DAY 4: Final March on DNC
1,531 watching -
1:15:52
Havoc
5 hours agoRap Albums That Never Dropped + Live Q&A | Stuck Off the Realness Ep. 10
29.6K1 -
1:30:05
The Late Kick with Josh Pate
3 hours agoLate Kick Live Ep 544: Season Prediction Special | More CFP Expansion Ahead | Saban & Kiffin Details
12.8K2