this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2025
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NEW JWST IMAGE shows SEVENTEEN carbon dust shells around a binary star system

@science@lemmy.world @science@beehaw.org @space@lemmy.world @space@newsmast.community #space #science #nasa #astronomy

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[–] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

As they swing past one another (within the central white dot in the Webb images), the stellar winds from each star slam together, the material compresses, and carbon-rich dust forms. Webb’s latest observations show 17 dust shells shining in mid-infrared light that are expanding at regular intervals into the surrounding space.

[...]

Like clockwork, the stars’ winds generate dust for several months every eight years, as the pair make their closest approach during a wide, elongated orbit.

reference: https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/webb-watches-carbon-rich-dust-shells-form-expand-in-star-system/

Basically you're looking at dust showing a pattern of stellar turbulence. There's a nice video clip in the article that shows how the two stars orbit each other. Because the orbit is consistent, it is producing these compression waves every 8 years when the stars are closest to each other.

Also interesting:

The dust’s distribution isn’t uniform. Though this isn’t obvious at first glance, zooming in on the shells in Webb’s images reveals that some of the dust has “piled up,” forming amorphous, delicate clouds that are as large as our entire solar system.