The star visible at the center of the nebula is simply named WR 124, in reference to the “Wolf-Rayet” phase: this is the relatively rare phase at the end of a star’s life when its main energy fuel — hydrogen — begins to burn heavier chemical elements. This creates powerful jets of energy that eject layer upon layer of the star’s matter outward: hence this nebula of gas and dust expanding around it.
Astronomers estimate that what was ejected is already 10 times the mass of our Sun. Finally, this hyperactive phase ends in a gigantic explosion: a supernova.
Dubbed Mi-67, the nebula is about 6 light-years across. Considering the speed of growth, this phase began about 20,000 years ago. However, a Wolf-Rayet phase is short, at least from a cosmic point of view: at most a few million years.
This gas and dust astronomers call “stardust”: these heavy chemical elements from WR 124 will one day contribute to the formation of other stars, with planets and, who knows, maybe living beings. Watching these fragments of time to come move through the Mi-67 Nebula may be beyond the capabilities of James-Webb’s infrared camera. In fact, “dust-loving astronomers” had no way of gathering information about “the dust production in environments like WR 124” in front of this telescope, according to the NASA press release.
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