NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captures image of a dying star

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a stunning representation of a prima connected the cusp of death.

The telescope's infrared lens observed the state and particulate flung into abstraction by a immense prima 15,000 light-years away.

The shimmering purple cast-off worldly erstwhile comprised the outer furniture of the prima Wolf-Rayet 124.

It sits successful the constellation Sagittarius and is 30 times much monolithic than our prima and has already shed capable worldly to relationship for 10 suns, according to NASA.

"What we're seeing successful this beauteous caller representation astatine the precise centre is simply a star," said NASA's Amber Straughn.

"The airy from that prima has been travelling done abstraction for astir 15,000 years, it's 15,000 airy years away, until it deed the detectors connected the telescope.

"And the worldly that you're seeing astir the cardinal prima that looks similar particulate is dust.

"And truthful astatine the extremity of a star's life, they shed their outer material, their outer layers retired into the remainder of the universe."

She added: "I deliberation this is 1 of the astir beauteous concepts successful each of astronomy. This is Carl Sagan's Stardust concept.

"The information that the robust successful your humor and the calcium successful your bones was virtually forged wrong of a prima that exploded billions of years ago.

"And that's what we're seeing successful this caller image. That particulate is spreading retired into the cosmos and volition yet make planets. And this is however we got here, successful fact."

Telescope captures delicate details

NASA released the representation astatine the South by Southwest league successful Austin, Texas.

The reflection was among the archetypal made by Webb pursuing its motorboat successful precocious 2021.

The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a changeable of the aforesaid transitioning prima a fewer decades agone - but it appeared much similar a fireball, without the delicate details.

Such a translation occurs lone successful immoderate stars and is usually the past measurement earlier they explode, going supernova, according to scientists.

Last twelvemonth the scope captured an representation of dust rings resembling a fingerprint created by 2 stars and took its archetypal representation of a satellite extracurricular of the star system.