Wolf-Rayet + O-type supergiant tango

[AstroViking]

Morning all,

Found this interesting article in the ABC today:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2022-10-13/james-webb-space-telescope-image-wr140-dust-shells/101511786

A Wolf-Rayet and a supergiant O-type star in a tight orbit pattern that's sending shells of dust and gas into interstellar space.

Cheers,
V

[Saturnine]

Was just reading the article on the ABC and was going to post the link but don't need to now. The more we know about the lives of stars, the more fascinating and interesting they become.

[AstroViking]

It's also made it to NASA's APOD:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221013.html


"Explanation: What are those strange rings? Rich in dust, the rings are likely 3D shells -- but how they were created remains a topic of research. Where they were created is well known: in a binary star system that lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus) -- a system dominated by the Wolf-Rayet star WR 140. Wolf-Rayet stars are massive, bright, and known for their tumultuous winds. They are also known for creating and dispersing heavy elements such as carbon which is a building block of interstellar dust. The other star in the binary is also bright and massive -- but not as active. The two great stars joust in an oblong orbit as they approach each other about every eight years. When at closest approach, the X-ray emission from the system increases, as, apparently, does the dust expelled into space -- creating another shell. The featured infrared image by the new Webb Space Telescope resolves greater details and more dust shells than ever before."