europeanspaceagency posted a photo:
This NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescopeâs mid-infrared image shows four coiled shells of dust around a pair of Wolf-Rayet stars known as Apep for the first time. Previous observations by other telescopes showed only one.
Webbâs data, combined with observations from the European Southern Observatoryâs Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, confirmed that the two Wolf-Rayet stars sail past one another approximately every 190 years. Over each orbit, they make a close pass for 25 years, producing and spewing amorphous carbon dust.
Webbâs new data also confirmed that there are three stars gravitationally bound to one another in this system. Holes are âslicedâ into these shells by the third star, a massive supergiant.
Learn more about this result here.
[Image description: Four dust shells in Wolf-Rayet Apep expand away from three central stars that appear as a single pinpoint of light. The shells are curved, and the interior shell looks like a backward lowercase e shape.]
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Y. Han (Caltech), R. White (Macquarie University), A. Pagan (STScI); CC BY 4.0
James Webb Space Telescope posted a photo:
Some serious chaotic energyâŚ
Webb refined our view of a star system called Apep, named after the Egyptian god of chaos. Apep was thought to consist solely of two Wolf-Rayet stars, which are a rare class of massive, evolved, luminous stars. Only 1000 are estimated to exist in our galaxy, out of hundreds of billions. To have found a system with two of them is exceedingly rare, and itâs the only known one in our galaxy.
Adding to the chaos, Webb confirmed that there is actually a third star in this system, a massive supergiant, which is slicing holes into the dusty shells the Wolf-Rayet stars are creating. Prior to Webb, we could only see one dust shell - the others were just theoretical. We can now see four of them in the mid-infrared, resembling serpentine spirals, the fourth of which is almost transparent and only seen at the edges of this image. The Wolf-Rayet stars have been creating these shells over the last 700 years.
As the Wolf-Rayet stars pass by each other, their strong stellar winds collide and mix, forming and casting out heaps of carbon-rich dust. Additionally, though they are orbiting quickly, astronomically speaking, these stars have an extremely long orbital period of 190 years, and it takes 25 years for them to pass each other. The next longest orbit for a dusty Wolf-Rayet binary is approximately 30 years, and most have orbits between two and 10 years. While similar systems cast out dust for months-long periods, this system forms and casts out dust for a quarter century at a time.
Their 3rd companion, originally spotted by the ESOâs Very Large Telescope and confirmed by Webb, carves holes into each expanding dust cloud from its wider orbit. (Note that all three stars appear as a single bright point of light in this image.)
Read more: go.nasa.gov/44eHTgH
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University)
Image description: Four dust shells expand away from three central stars that appear as a single pinpoint of light. The innermost shell is smallest, like the size of a thumbprint, and brightest. It is yellow and forms a backward lowercase e. A line at 3 oâclock swoops to the bottom-left in an arc that ends at 8 oâclock. A second line at 9 oâclock dips down to start, but then goes straight up, angling around the top. The second shell, about the size of a fist, is orange and has looser arcs. One appears from 4 to 7 oâclock. A brighter orange triangle appears from 10 to 12 oâclock. Its outer edges overlap, forming a rough circle. The third shell extends almost to the edges and is semi-translucent red, with similar arcs and a darker red line that also forms a faint triangle at top left. The widest shell is faintest and at the edges. A semi-transparent blue appears across the scene. A larger foreground star with spikes is at bottom left, and more distant stars and galaxies are strewn across the black expanse of space.
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Heel gek maar van al die drones (dossier) die boven Europa hebben gevlogen zijn precies NUL beelden en inmiddels zijn ook wij aan de beurt om ze niet op beeld te krijgen: boven chemiebedrijf Dow en de haven van Terneuzen zijn maandagavond '12 tot 20 drones' gesignaleerd. Hoe, wat, wie, waarom weet natuurlijk weer niemand. Maar: "Woordvoerder Bresseleers zegt dat medewerkers van het havenbedrijf met eigen ogen hebben gezien dat er drones boven het havengebied vlogen. 'Meerdere mensen hebben meerdere drones gezien. En niet alleen wij, maar ook anderen hebben drones gezien'." Eigenlijk zijn het altijd vliegtuigen, ballonnen, helikopters, legale automatische drones, brandweerdrones en andere volstrekt verklaarbare objecten, maar laten we vooral nog 1x met z'n allen 'DE RUSSEN!!1!' roepen. Daar gaan we: DE RUSSEN!!1! Hebt u trouwens al een noodpakket?