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With NASA's Webb, Dying Star's Energetic Display Comes Into Full Focus

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April 14, 2025 10:00AM (EDT)Release ID: 2025-118
What looks like a single large, bright blue star (but is two) is centered, surrounded by the cropped shape of a short cylinder at an angle in a mix of orange and blue, with pink wispy material in the center.

Summary

Only the James Webb Space Telescope has the ability to fully detail this planetary nebula’s dusty rings with its unique mid-infrared camera.

Come one, come all to witness the “magic” of a dying star’s dust sent across space!

The James Webb Space Telescope has taken the most detailed image of planetary nebula NGC 1514 to date thanks to its unique mid-infrared observations. Webb’s image brings out the nebula’s nuances, particularly its “fuzzy” dusty rings. Also look for holes in the central pink region where material has broken through.

Two central stars, which appear as one in Webb’s image, formed this scene over thousands of years — and will keep at it for thousands more.

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Full Article

Gas and dust ejected by a dying star at the heart of NGC 1514 came into complete focus thanks to mid-infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. Its rings, which are only detected in infrared light, now look like “fuzzy” clumps arranged in tangled patterns, and a network of clearer holes close to the central stars shows where faster material punched through. “Before Webb, we weren’t able to detect most of this material, let alone observe it so clearly,” said Mike Ressler, a researcher and project scientist for Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) ...

Read More on NASA.gov

Callout: Full Press Release

Visit NASA Science to view the full news release including article text and associated Webb imagery, graphics, scientific visualizations, videos, captions, text descriptions, and other information.

News releases highlighting the discoveries of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are produced for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, under NASA Contract NAS5-03127. News release content is developed by the News Team in STScI’s Office of Public Outreach.

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