Transition Video: 2022 and 2023 observations of Wolf-Rayet 140

This video alternates between two James Webb Space Telescope observations of Wolf-Rayet 140, a two-star system that has sent out more than 17 shells of dust over 130 years. Mid-infrared-light observations highlight them with excellent clarity.

By comparing this pair of observations, taken only 14 months apart, researchers showed that the dust in the system has expanded. All the dust in every shell is moving at almost 1% the speed of light.

The stars are very bright, which gave rise to the diffraction spikes in both images. These are artifacts, not meaningful features.

[Video description: The video alternates between two James Webb Space Telescope images of the two-star system Wolf-Rayet 140, the first taken in 2022 and the second in 2023. Both show a bright white point of light surrounded by 17 regularly spaced, hazy dust shells at the bottom, right, and upper right. There is noticeably less colour in the upper left. The central point, where the two stars are located, has a roughly hexagonal shape. By alternating between them, it’s clear that the dust shells are moving outward, becoming wider.]