Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 March 18
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                               Wolf-Rayet 124
   Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]CSA, [6]STScI, [7]Webb ERO Production
                                    Team

   Explanation: Driven by powerful stellar winds, expanding shrouds of gas
   and dust [8]frame hot, luminous star Wolf-Rayet 124 in [9]this sharp
   infrared view. The eye-catching [10]6-spike star pattern is
   characteristic of stellar images made with the 18 hexagonal mirrors of
   the [11]James Webb Space Telescope. About 15,000 light-years distant
   toward the pointed northern constellation Sagitta, [12]WR 124 has over
   30 times the mass of the Sun. Produced in a brief and rarely spotted
   phase of [13]massive star evolution in the Milky Way, this star's
   turbulent nebula is nearly 6 light-years across. It heralds [14]WR
   124's impending stellar death in a supernova explosion. Formed in the
   expanding nebula, dusty interstellar debris that survives the supernova
   [15]will influence the formation of future generations of stars.

                     Tomorrow's picture: Mayan Milky Way
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC,
                         [36]NASA Science Activation
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2303/WR124_Webb.png
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/
   6. https://www.stsci.edu/
   7. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022ApJ...936L..14P/abstract
   8. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022MNRAS.513.3317Z/abstract
   9. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/media/images/2023/111/01GTY9YMA18RV3VMPKS7GQ5P05
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220319.html
  11. https://webbtelescope.org/home
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200308.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_evolution#Massive_stars
  14. https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2023/news-2023-111
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120621.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230317.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230318
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230319.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/