Apep: Unusual Dust Shells from Webb
Image Credit:
NASA,
ESA,
CSA,
STScI,
JWST;
Science:
Y. Han
(Caltech),
R. White
(Macquarie U.);
Image Processing:
A. Pagan
(STScI)
What created this unusual space sculpture?
Stars.
This unusual system of swirls and shells, known as
Apep, was observed in unprecedented detail by
NASA’s
James Webb Space Telescope in
infrared light
in 2024.
Observations indicate that the
unusual shape
originates from two massive
Wolf-Rayet stars orbiting each other every
190 years with each close passes causing a new shell of
dust and gas to be
expelled.
Holes in these shells are thought to be caused by a
third orbiting star.
This stellar dust
dance will likely continue for
hundreds of thousands of years,
possibly ending only when one of the
massive stars runs out of internal nuclear fuel and explodes in a
supernova punctuated by a
burst of gamma-rays.