How are the elements like carbon produced and spread across space? Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified two stars responsible for generating carbon-rich dust a mere 5,000 light-years away in our own Milky Way galaxy. As the massive stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 swing past one another on their elongated orbits, their winds collide and produce carbon-rich dust. For a few months every eight years, the stars form a new shell of dust that expands outward — and may eventually go on to become part of stars that form elsewhere in our galaxy.

Webb’s mid-infrared light observations show 17 irregular shells around these stars — but many more may have dissipated and thousands more will be created. These findings offer definitive clues about carbon’s beginnings that may help the astronomy community unwind how elements go on to form new stars and planets.

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