NASA captures rare prelude to a supernova

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said their James Webb Space Telescope captured images of a rare star last summer.

The administration said the WR-124, Wolf-Rayet star is among the brightest and most massive stars known to exist. This one lies 15,000 lightyears away in the constellation of Sagittarius.

According to NASA, massive stars tend to have a quicker life-cycle and only some of them go through a brief Wolf-Rayet period before a supernova.

The photo captured by the space camera shows radiant cosmic dust being cast off from the star as it nears closer to its death.

This cosmic dust will eventually come together with other atmospheric molecules to form new stars and planets, NASA said.

“Webb’s detailed image of WR-124 preserves forever a brief, turbulent time of transformation, and promises future discoveries that will reveal the long-shrouded mysteries of cosmic dust,” NASA officials said in a release.

Before this, NASA said dust-loving astronomers did not have enough detailed information to truly explore the possibilities of how much this dust impacts the creation of new planets and stars.

They said with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, those questions can now be investigated with real data