'2,600 km/s dust storms': James Webb spies stars crafting life’s ingredients at 1% the speed of light
Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Cosmic Dust
Carbon-rich dust from Wolf-Rayet 140 forms shells that expand at 2,600 km/s, showcasing celestial chemistry.
Star Collision
Every 7.93 years, winds from a Wolf-Rayet and OB star collide, creating rings of organic material.
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Real-Time
JWST captured expanding dust shells over 14 months, marking rare, observable cosmic changes.
Dust Factories
WR binaries like WR 140 are key producers of the carbon-rich dust essential for life and planet formation.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Emma Lieb (University of Denver), Ryan Lau (NSF NOIRLab), Jennifer Hoffman (University of Denver)
Carbon Legacy
The shells date back 130+ years, with older dust dispersing into interstellar space or aiding star formation.
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Dynamic Rings
The mid-infrared tools of JWST revealed vast, expanding shells, undetectable with visible light.
Scientific Milestone
Emma Lieb and Ryan Lau, authors of Nature Astronomy, credit JWST’s clarity in unraveling dust origins.
Gigantic Scale
Dust shells are 1.4 trillion km apart—if made by our Sun, they’d span 5% of the distance to Alpha Centauri.
Future Insights
JWST will continue to study WR 140, unveiling how massive stars shape the universe’s chemical evolution.