A phenomenon and an image of incredible rarity. The James-Webb Space Telescope has managed to capture the image of a star about to go supernova, that is, to implode. This dying star was photographed in the constellation Sagittarius, 15,000 light-years away, in late 2021, and NASA unveiled the snapshot on Tuesday, March 14, reports The Guardian. One light-year equals 9.5 trillion kilometres. Suffice to say that seizing the moment, which was brief, is a feat.
The star in question, dubbed WR 124, is of the Wolf-Rayet type: before exploding and turning into a black hole, it releases halos of gas and cosmic dust around its core. This is precisely what the James-Webb telescope was able to capture.
Cosmic spring is in the air! The latest image from @NASAWebb features a blooming Wolf-Rayet star, 15,000 light-years away. This rare phase is as fleeting as the cherry blossom it resembles. Luckily, Webb can study its "petals" of dust in detail: https://t.co/z9dlzgKmAh
"WR 124, which is 30 times the mass of the Sun, has already lost an amount of material equivalent to 10 Suns," NASA said in its statement. The material thus rejected appears bright in purple on the photo published by NASA, reminiscent of a cherry blossom.
