NASA James Webb Space Telescope Finds Weird Rings Around WR140 Star

Astronomers were again taken aback by the NASA James Webb Space Telescope, but this time it perplexed them.

This has occurred due to a recent image of the far-off star WR 140 that was taken by the most powerful observatory in the world.

The image captured in July using Webb's Mid-Infrared (MIRI) sensor displays enigmatic waves ringing the star.

The star is also seen to have six large spikes surrounding it, produced by the telescope itself, known as diffraction spikes.

Judy Schmidt, a citizen scientist who works on analyzing photos taken by observatories and has helped to create multiple Webb photographs, shared the image.

"Nope, I don't know what this is. Some kind of spiral nebula around WR140. I'm sure we'll find out more later," Schmidt said in a tweet.

NASA James Webb Space Telescope Finds Sexy WR140

Well, the recognizable spirals that surround the star in the photograph are a start. Of course, the typical diffraction spikes brought on by James Webb's observations will always exist. However, BGR said the image also demonstrates how light passes through gases and other debris left behind when this unusual binary star pair circles one another.

The stars, one a big O-type star and the other a Wolf-Rayet star, are both uncommon. They hardly ever live next to one another when found in the cosmos. The two stars, as is the case here, orbit one another in separate directions. Their strong winds clash as they approach one another and reach their periastron, causing debris and dust illuminated by the light they generate.

It's an ideal setup with magnificent elements allowing a fantastic photo op. The wind binary in motion is equally as breathtakingly captured by James Webb. The ultraviolet radiation from the two stars heats the dust clouds resulting from colliding each star's dust clouds. The dust and substance shimmer and shine as we see it in James Webb's painting.

It's also important to note that the picture above, according to Science Alert, has about 160 years' worth of dust shells. This is because the star's orbits only approach one another once every 7.94 years. As a result, as time goes on, new rings are formed, pushing the older ones outside.

About WR140

The feature was referred to as "bonkers" in a Twitter thread by Mark McCaughrean, an interdisciplinary scientist who serves as a science advisor to the European Space Agency and a member of the James Webb Space Telescope Science Working Group.

"The six-pointed blue structure is an artifact due to optical diffraction from the bright star WR140 in this #JWST MIRI image," he wrote.

"But red curvy-yet-boxy stuff is real, a series of shells around WR140," he added.

According to McCaughrean, the red curvy-yet-boxy stuff surrounding WR140 is real.

He mentioned that WR140 is a Wolf-Rayet star, which is a star that has ejected a large amount of its hydrogen into space.

McCaughrean said that the dust surrounding these objects and a companion star molding into the odd shells is also there.

Space.com said a scholarly publication regarding this puzzling occurrence is being reviewed, so astronomers will soon have additional information.

The so-called variable star WR140, which is 5,600 light-years from Earth in Cygnus's constellation, regularly dims and brightens.

It remains to be discovered whether the star's variability has anything to do with the enigmatic ripples.

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