A new cosmic film has been released, showcasing the massive star Wolf-Rayet 140 and its interactions with a companion blue-white O star in the Milky Way. The film features observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, which have revealed details about dust-forming activity around this extreme stellar duo.
The stars are caught in a mutual orbit, swinging close to each other every eight years. During these close approaches, their strong winds collide, resulting in compressed gas being flung outward and forming dusty rings. These rings expand over time, with more than a dozen shells visible in the Webb imagery.
Researchers have been tracking the expansion of the dusty shells since 2022 and have found that they are moving at an incredible speed of 2,700 kilometers per second – nearly 1% the speed of light. This is entirely expected, based on the speed of the stellar wind coming from the more massive star.
The images obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope also show clumpiness within the shells, providing valuable insights into dust formation in highly irradiated environments. The results have been presented at the American Astronomical Society and will appear in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Source: https://skyandtelescope.org/uncategorized/webb-telescope-watches-rippling-dust-shells