NASA James Webb Space telescope captures star on cusp of death | Tech News

NASA James Webb Space telescope captures star on cusp of death

The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.

By:AP
| Updated on: Mar 16 2023, 09:50 IST
Best NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Week: Large Magellanic Cloud, Dimorphos Asteroid and more
WR 124
1/5 Venus-Jupiter Conjunction (March 6) - It is a stunning picture of Planetary Conjunction involving Jupiter and Venus as it took over the skies back in 2012. It was captured in Szubin, Poland, by creating an illusion of both planets being balanced on two hands. (NASA/Marek Nikodem)
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2/5 Large Magellanic Cloud (March 7) - The picture shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is located about 180,000 light-years away towards the constellation Dorado. According to NASA, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) spans about 15000 light-years. LMC is also the site of the brightest and closest supernova observed in recent times.  (NASA/Yuri Beletsky(TWAN))
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3/5 Light Pollution (March 8) - The picture shows artificial brightness present in the night sky, which makes observing celestial objects such as stars, planets and others, increasingly difficult. Parts of the US and Western Europe have artificial night sky glow which is nearly 10 times the natural light in the night sky.  (NASA/JPSS Satellites/David J. Lorenz)
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4/5 Dimorphos Asteroid (March 9) - It is a thrilling picture of the Dimorphos asteroid, captured just 3 seconds before the collision. It was a $330 million venture which proved to be a success as the target asteroid named Dimorphos deflected off its path. While this asteroid in no way threatened Earth, this was an experiment to gain greater knowledge as to what happens when a craft crashes against a space rock.  (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/DART)
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5/5 Orion and Running Man Nebulae (March 10) - stellar snapshot of the Orion Nebula and the Running Man Nebula. Also known as M42, the Orion Nebula is located about 1500 light-years away and spans about 40 light-years across. Another Nebula can be seen embedded in this region, known as the Running Man Nebula, which is the northmost part of the asterism known as Orion’s Sword.  (NASA/Abraham Jones)
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The captured star, WR 124, is 30 times as massive as our sun and located in the Sagitta constellation. (NASA)

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.

NASA released the picture Tuesday at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas.

The observation was among the first made by Webb following its launch in late 2021. Its infrared eyes observed all the gas and dust flung into space by a huge, hot star 15,000 light-years away. A light-year is about 5.8 trillion miles.

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Shimmering in purple like a cherry blossom, the cast-off material once comprised the star's outer layer. The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a shot of the same transitioning star a few decades ago, but it appeared more like a fireball without the delicate details.

Such a transformation occurs only with some stars and normally is the last step before they explode, going supernova, according to scientists.

“We've never seen it like that before. It's really exciting,” said Macarena Garcia Marin, a European Space Agency scientist who is part of the project.

This star in the Sagitta constellation, officially known as WR 124, is 30 times as massive as our sun and already has shed enough material to account for 10 suns, according to NASA.

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First Published Date: 16 Mar, 08:40 IST
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