NASA Webb Space Telescope has discovered a rare star that is about to evolve into a “supernova”

IT Home News on March 15, NASA shared a latest image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which shows a star that is about to become a “supernova” – WR 124. The star is located in Sagittarius, about 15,000 light-years from Earth.

▲ The composite image of Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) combines the near-infrared and medium-infrared wavelength light from Weber’s near-infrared camera and mid-infrared instruments.

The star was first discovered in June 2022 and is currently undergoing the Wolf-Rayet phase.

IT Home Science Popularization: Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are very rare alien stars. They have unusual spectra and are evolving high-quality stars. Their mass is usually 8-25 times that of the Sun, but their diameter is not large, generally only 1.5-4 times that of the Sun. Most WR stars are late stars that have experienced the red supergiant phase. The outer “hydrogen” has been completely exhausted (it has been transformed into helium and has undergone a hydrogen nuclear fusion phase), while the heavy elements on the surface are already very abundant and have a strong stellar wind (300 to 2000 km / s).

It is reported that the effective surface temperature of WR is between 30,000K and 210,000K, which is almost hotter than all other types of stars, so it is one of the brightest stars in the universe. They were previously known as W-type stars because of their W-type spectrum and are in the final stages of the evolution of massive stars.

In fact, only some high-quality stars would undergo such a transformation before their final explosion, and they were often one of the largest and brightest objects in the night sky.

In the case of WR 124, NASA estimates that the mass of the star is 30 times that of the Sun, and has so far shed about 10 solar masses of material. Over time, the gas released will cool down and form cosmic dust.

Of course, for some reasons, many astronomers are keen to study cosmic dust, which is also a basic component of the universe.

As NASA points out, it can shelter merging stars and even gather together to form planets. However, there is no theory to explain how much cosmic dust there is in the universe. It is hoped that JWST can help astronomers solve this mystery.

NASA said: “Before Weber, astronomers who loved cosmic dust did not have enough detailed information to explore the problems caused by dust in environments like WR 124, and whether the dust particles were large and rich enough to survive the supernova explosion and the whole dust The Egyptian budget has made a significant contribution. And now these problems can be investigated with real data.