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CTOnews.com, March 15 (Xinhua)-- NASA shared a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) showing a star about to become a supernova, WR 124. The star is located in the constellation Sagittarius, about 15000 light-years from Earth.

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

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

CTOnews.com Science Popularization: Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are very rare alien stars. They have unusual spectra and are high-mass stars in the process of evolution. They are usually 8-25 times the mass of the sun, but the diameter is not large, generally only 1.5-4 times that of the sun. Most WR stars are late stars that have gone through the red supergiant stage, the outer layer of hydrogen has been completely exhausted (converted to helium and experienced hydrogen nuclear fusion stage), and the surface heavy elements have a high abundance and have a strong stellar wind (300~2000km / s).

It is reported that the effective temperature on the surface of WR is between 3000K and 210000K, which is hotter than almost all other types of stars, so it is the brightest star in the universe. They used to be called W-shaped stars because their spectra are W-shaped and belong to the late stage of the evolution of massive stars.

In fact, only some high-mass stars, which used to be one of the largest and brightest objects in the night sky, undergo such a transition before they eventually explode.

In the case of WR 124, NASA estimates that the star is 30 times the mass of the sun and has so far lost about 10 solar mass. Over time, the gas from it cools and forms cosmic dust.

Of course, for some reasons, many astronomers are keen on studying cosmic dust, which is also a basic part of the universe.

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

"before Weber, astronomers who loved cosmic dust simply didn't 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 a supernova explosion and make a significant contribution to the entire dust budget," NASA said. "now these questions can be investigated with real data."

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