A interesting phenomenon was discovered by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) when it obtained a detailed image of a star that is roughly 5,600 light-years away. The star appears to be ringed by concentric circles of light that are radiating outward in the telescope's view. The star in the picture is a rare binary duo in the Cygnus constellation. Periodic eruptions of dust that are gradually extending in shells into the space around the stars are caused by their interaction.
According to a report by Science Alert, the dust shells' infrared light enables NASA's JWST's sensitive Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to capture it in detail. The unusual Wolf-Rayet star WR 140 and its hot, massive O-type companion, an equally uncommon object, make up the pair of stars, collectively referred to as a colliding wind binary. When a Wolf-Rayet star reaches the conclusion of its main-sequence life, it is described as being hot, elderly, and brilliant. They contain plenty of nitrogen and carbon but little hydrogen and are rapidly losing mass.
The O-type stars, on the other hand, are thought to be some of the brightest, hotter, and most massive stars ever discovered. However, because of their enormous size, they only have a very short lifespan. Fast stellar winds are pouring out into space from the pair of stars in WR 140 at a rate of about 3,000 kilometres per second. As a result, both stars are rapidly shedding mass.
The carbon-based dust in the system absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the stars. This warms the dust, which then emits thermal radiation that Webb's camera has collected. The incomplete dust shells are expanded by the stellar winds, which propel air outward. The shells lose heat and density as they expand and cool as they are blown out.
Due to the double star's orbit's 7.94-year period, wind collisions and dust formation occur on average once every 7.94 years. This suggests that one can calculate the age of the outermost visible dust shell by counting the rings of the nebula around the double. Twenty similar rings, or 160 years' worth of dust shells, may be seen in the photograph.
