A new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals a remarkable cosmic sight: at least 17 concentric dust rings emanating from a pair of stars. Located just over 5,000 light-years from Earth, the duo is collectively known as Wolf-Rayet 140.


Each ring was created when the two stars came close together and their stellar winds (streams of gas they blow into space) met, compressing the gas and forming dust. The stars’ orbits bring them together about once every eight years; like the growth of rings of a tree’s trunk, the dust loops mark the passage of time.

“We’re looking at over a century of dust production from this system,” said Ryan Lau, an astronomer at NSF’s NOIRLab and lead author of a new study about the system, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy. “The image also illustrates just how sensitive this telescope is. Before, we were only able to see two dust rings, using ground-based telescopes. Now we see at least 17 of them.”

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected the most distant active supermassive black hole in the universe to date.

The black hole is in a galaxy called CEERS 1019.

It's a pretty big deal, but the US space agency says it might only hold the title for a few weeks.

Let's unpack what this means and why it's so special......

.......Why is this black hole special?

It's very, very old but also quite small, relatively speaking.

CEERS 1019's black hole existed more than 570 million years after the Big Bang.

Before now, the most distant black hole was about 670 million years after the Big Bang — something we learned about in early 2021.....

It's been a year since the first full-colour image from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was released, and to celebrate the milestone NASA has unveiled another stunning image.

The US space agency released an image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which is some 390 light-years away from Earth.
What is this an image of?

Stars and space dust.

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is the nearest star-forming region to Earth, a NASA statement explains.

"It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you'd never know it from Webb's chaotic close-up," NASA says.....

NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope image shows 'chaotic' scene of newborn stars.

It's been a year since the first full-colour image from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was released, and to celebrate the milestone NASA has unveiled another stunning image.

The US space agency released an image of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which is some 390 light-years away from Earth.
What is this an image of?

Stars and space dust.

The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is the nearest star-forming region to Earth, a NASA statement explains.

"It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you'd never know it from Webb's chaotic close-up," NASA says.....

Cheers.