NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has caught a rare glimpse of one of the most massive and brightest stars known nearing supernova.
The space agency made the discovery in June of 2022 but just unveiled the findings to the public. The star is currently in its Wolf-Rayet phase or the part of a star's life cycle that begins before it transitions into a supernova blast.
The star, called WR 124 and is 15,000 light years away, was detected by the Webb telescope as it shed its outer layers that reflected back glimmering light and halos of dust and gas. Supernovae are of particular interest to scientists because the dust emitted from them are essential to the makeup of a solar system. The formation of planets, protection of budding stars, and the clumping of molecules are all linked to cosmic dust.
It's been a longstanding theory on how the Milky Way galaxy formed, according to Science Daily, that a massive star exploded near a cloud of dust and gas and collapsed on itself.
"This is Carl Sagan's stardust concept, the fact that the iron in your blood and the calcium in your bones was literally forged inside of a star that exploded billions of years ago," Dr. Amber Straughn, astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and deputy project scientist for the Webb telescope's science communications, told CNN. "And that's what we're seeing in this new image. That dust is spreading out into the cosmos and will eventually create planets. And this is how we got here, in fact."
The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day in 2021 and is expected to continue sending observations until 2026. NASA said it hopes the space observatory will function for at least five years after that.
U.S. Hit With Record Breaking Heat Waves
It's only June and already scientists are saying it could be the hottest year on record, as the warming effects of El Niño will continue to strengthen into the fall and winter. Here with more is Cheddar News Senior Reporter Chloe Aiello.
OceanGate Expeditions on Thursday said pilot and chief executive Stockton Rush, along with passengers Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet “have sadly been lost.”
A new study on loneliness is showing it may not only affect mental health, but it may also be bad for the bones. However, the study found it impacts one group in particular: men. Amid concerns about the rising epidemic of loneliness, researchers wanted to take a closer look at its effects.
Be Well: 2-Minute Morning Stretch Routine
Be Well: Celebrity Trainer Bob Harper Talks Heart Health
A new study from Finland found that "night owls," or people who tend to stay up late, don't live as long as those who go to bed early and wake up early as well.
Confidence in the scientific community declined among U.S. adults in 2022, a major survey shows, driven by a partisan divide in views of both science and medicine that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The American Cancer Society estimates that over 20,000 new cancer cases in Connecticut this year alone. But there's a concerning shortage of chemotherapy drugs in the state and across the country. News 12 reporter Mark Sudol tells us why and what can be done.
A jury in Oregon says the electric utility PacifiCorp must pay punitive damages for causing devastating wildfires in 2020 — on top of an earlier verdict already expected to amount to billions of dollars.
