James Webb sent the rarest photo of the star that will go supernova

The James Webb Space Telescope has transmitted to Earth a photo of the star WR 124, which will soon become a supernova. It is located in the constellation Sagittarius, 15 000 light years away from our planet.

Here's What We Know

James Webb took an image of WR 124 last summer. The star is at the Wolf-Rayet stage, after which it will explode into a supernova. Scientists estimate that WR 124 has 30 times the mass of the Sun. Moreover, the ejected matter is 10 times the mass of our star.

The star ejects matter that turns into cosmic dust when it cools down. It strongly attracts scientists because it allows them to learn more about how stars and planets form in our Universe. The good news is that the cosmic dust is perfectly visible in the infrared.

What's interesting is that astronomers don't know how space dust forms. There's more of it than scientific theories predict. The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to help scientists solve this mystery.

Source: NASA