Tag

Wolf Rayet

All articles tagged with #wolf rayet

space-and-astronomy29 days ago•54 min saved

Global telescope network captures early shock-breakout of a colossal stellar explosion

Astronomers worldwide recorded the first moments of a 500‑million‑light‑year‑distant Type Ic broad‑lined supernova from a Wolf–Rayet progenitor, catching the faint X-ray shock breakout and mapping the star’s pre‑explosion surroundings; the event showed jets but no observed gamma‑ray burst, suggesting a possible choking of the jet, with Rubin Observatory and other facilities continuing long‑term follow‑up observations.

via Yahoo|

#ic-bl #rubin-observatory #shock-breakout

space1 month ago•157 min saved

Faint X-ray shock breakout reveals a new path for massive-star deaths (SN 2026gzf)

Astronomers tracked SN 2026gzf from its faint X-ray shock breakout to its early light across multiple wavelengths, revealing a broad-lined Type Ic explosion from a Wolf‑Rayet star about 500 million light-years away that did not produce a gamma-ray burst. The rapid, multi-instrument follow-up mapped the explosion and its interaction with surrounding material, suggesting diverse pathways to such energetic deaths beyond GRB jets and shedding light on the star’s final years.

via Space|

#astronomy #shock-breakout #space

space3 months ago•75 min saved

Blue cosmic flares traced to black-hole and Wolf-Rayet star mergers

Astronomers propose that the rare, fast-evolving blue explosions called Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs) arise when a compact stellar remnant—such as a black hole or neutron star—merges with the helium core of a Wolf-Rayet star. The Wolf-Rayet merger model neatly explains LFBOTs’ blue hue, dense circumstellar environments, and offsets from birth sites better than tidal disruption or standard supernova scenarios. With the Rubin Observatory’s LSST expected to uncover more LFBOTs at greater distances, scientists hope to test this channel and learn how these progenitors evolve over cosmic time.

via Space|

#astronomy #binary-merger #black-hole

space5 months ago•72 min saved

Thor’s Helmet Nebula Glows 15,000 Light-Years Away in Stunning Deep-Space Photo

Space.com reports astrophotographer Ronald Brecher captured the 30-light-year emission nebula NGC 2359, known as Thor’s Helmet, about 15,000 light-years from Earth in Canis Major. The helmet-like bubble is sculpted by winds from a central Wolf–Rayet star; Brecher photographed it from Guelph, Canada using a Celestron 14-inch EDGE HD telescope with a monochrome camera and narrowband filters, accumulating more than 8 hours across 124 exposures and stacking the data with PixInsight to reveal the nebula’s blue glow and wing-like structures.

via Space|

#astrophotography #canis-major #ngc-2359

astronomy6 months ago•53 min saved

JWST maps brain-like nebula PMR 1 in a dying star’s last act

The James Webb Space Telescope provides high‑resolution infrared views of PMR 1, the Exposed Cranium Nebula about 5,000 light‑years away in Vela. Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI imaging reveal a brain‑like structure of inner gases surrounded by a thinner hydrogen shell, with a split that may be caused by polar jets from the dying star. The central star’s nature remains uncertain: it was once considered a Wolf–Rayet type, but this is not confirmed, leaving PMR 1’s true identity—possibly a planetary nebula around a sun‑like star or a Wolf–Rayet remnant—open to interpretation.

via Space|

#astronomy #exposed-cranium-nebula #james-webb-space-telescope

astronomy3 years ago•6 min saved

Challenging NASA's prediction of a star's supernova fate.

NASA recently featured Wolf-Rayet star WR 124 as a "future supernova" within the Milky Way, but the fate of this star is uncertain. While stars with over 8 solar masses are fated for a core-collapse supernova, many Wolf-Rayet stars lose too much mass over time, leaving a core that contracts to a white dwarf. Other Wolf-Rayet stars will indeed collapse, but directly into a black hole with no accompanying supernova. With direct collapse and extreme mass loss still possible, WR 124 might not ever go supernova.

via Big Think|

#astronomy #black-hole #stars

science3 years ago•2 min saved

NASA's Webb Telescope captures stunning image of rare dying star on the brink of explosion.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured a rare image of a massive star, called WR 124, in the pre-supernova phase, expelling its outer layers and creating a knotted halo of gas and dust. The star is 30 times the mass of the sun and is located 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The dust created by dying stars is of great interest to astronomers, and Webb's powerful infrared capabilities could help solve the mystery of the origins of cosmic dust.

via Business Insider|

#cosmic-dust #james-webb-space-telescope #nasa

astronomy3 years ago•2 min saved

NASA's James Webb Telescope Captures Rare Image of Star on Brink of Supernova

The JWST has captured a high-resolution image of a rare Wolf-Rayet star, WR 124, which is nearing the end of its life and will soon explode in a supernova. Wolf-Rayet stars are very hot, very bright, and losing mass at a high rate. The image reveals intricate details of the star's elaborate cloud of ejected material, which could provide important insights into the contribution Wolf-Rayet stars make to the interstellar dust budget and the supernova remnants they leave behind. WR 124 is also one of the fastest runaway stars in the Milky Way, with a speed of 190 kilometers per second.

via ScienceAlert|

#astronomy #infrared #jwst