Webb watches carbon-rich dust shells form and expand in star system

JWST Snaps Colossal Waves of Star Dust That Dwarf Our Own Solar System

Carbon-rich cosmic dust comes from different sources and spreads out into space, where it's necessary for life and for the formation of rocky planets like ours.

The Webb Shows Us Where Cosmic Dust Comes From

Carbon-rich cosmic dust comes from different sources and spreads out into space, where it’s necessary for life and for the formation of rocky planets like ours. When astronomers aim their telescopes at objects in the sky, they often have to contend with this cosmic dust that obscures their targets and confounds their observations. One reason the JWST was built is to see through some of this dust with its infrared vision and unlock new insights i…

James Webb Space Telescope discovers one of the earliest 'truly gargantuan' supernovas ever seen

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted one of the earliest and most distant supernovas, marking the death of a stellar monster 20 times the mass of the sun.

Beautifully Detailed Webb Image Shows 'Shelled' Star on the Verge of Death

A star system 5,000 light-years from Earth, surrounded by layers of dust, could help scientists better understand the final stages of stellar life.

James Webb Space Telescope's 'little red dots' come into focus

A cosmic object spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope has flummoxed astronomers. Now, a research team has studied hundreds of these "little red dots" and found clues about their identity.

Webb watches carbon-rich dust shells form and expand in star system

Astronomers have long tried to track down how elements like carbon, which is essential for life, become widely distributed across the universe. Now, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has examined one ongoing source of carbon-rich dust in our own Milky Way galaxy in greater detail: Wolf-Rayet 140, a system of two massive stars that follow a tight, elongated orbit.