About the Object
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 19 11 30.90 |
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Position (Dec): | 16° 51' 35.19" |
Field of view: | 2.21 x 1.85 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 40.6° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
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Infrared
PAH | 7.7 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Optical | 900 nm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared | 1.5 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared
PAH | 11 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Infrared
PAH | 3.35 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared
methane | 2.1 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared
Silicate | 18 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Infrared | 4.44 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared
molecular hydrogen | 4.7 μm | James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam |
Infrared | 12 μm | James Webb Space Telescope MIRI |
Wolf-Rayet 124 (NIRCam and MIRI composite image)
The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) is prominent at the centre of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s composite image combining near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelengths of light. The star displays the characteristic diffraction spikes of Webb’s Near-infrared Camera (NIRCam), caused by the physical structure of the telescope itself. NIRCam effectively balances the brightness of the star with the fainter gas and dust surrounding it, while Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) reveals the nebula’s structure.
Background stars and galaxies populate the field of view and peek through the nebula of gas and dust that has been ejected from the ageing massive star. A history of the star’s past episodes of mass loss can be read in the nebula’s structure. Rather than smooth shells, the nebula is formed from random, asymmetric ejections. Bright clumps of gas and dust appear like tadpoles swimming toward the star, their tails streaming out behind them, blown back by the stellar wind.
Credit:NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team
About the Image
Id: | weic2307d | |
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Type: | Observation | |
Release date: | 14 March 2023, 19:00 | |
Size: | 4416 x 3704 px |