沃尔夫-拉叶星WR 124

2023年3月18日

Wolf-Rayet 124
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

Explanation: Driven by powerful stellar winds, expanding shrouds of gas and dust frame hot, luminous star Wolf-Rayet 124 in this sharp infrared view. The eye-catching 6-spike star pattern is characteristic of stellar images made with the 18 hexagonal mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope. About 15,000 light-years distant toward the pointed northern constellation Sagitta, WR 124 has over 30 times the mass of the Sun. Produced in a brief and rarely spotted phase of massive star evolution in the Milky Way, this star’s turbulent nebula is nearly 6 light-years across. It heralds WR 124’s impending stellar death in a supernova explosion. Formed in the expanding nebula, dusty interstellar debris that survives the supernova will influence the formation of future generations of stars.

Tomorrow’s picture: Mayan Milky Way

沃尔夫-拉叶星WR 124
图像提供: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

说明: 在这幅清晰的红外光图像里，受到强烈恒星风驱动，因而不断扩张的气体与尘埃，环拱着炽热明亮的恒星沃尔夫-拉叶星124（Wolf-Rayet 124, WR 124）。图像里吸睛的6芒恒星，是使用韦伯太空望远镜的18方六角镜面取像所造成的特征图案。而位在带着尖角的天箭座方向约15,000光年远处的WR 124，质量则是太阳的30倍以上。这颗恒星混乱、将近6光年宽的星云，形成于银河系大质量恒星短暂但鲜少被观测到的演化阶段。它预告了WR 124即将发生超新星死亡爆炸。而形成于扩张星云之中、并在超新星爆炸中孑遗下来的星际尘埃碎片，会影响未来世代的恒星之形成。

明日的图片: Mayan Milky Way