Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Thu Oct 13 2022 00:32:12

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2022 October 13

                     Dust Shells around WR 140 from Webb
   Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST, MIRI, ERS Program 1349; Processing:
                                Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: What are those strange rings? Rich in dust, the rings are
   likely 3D shells -- but how they were created remains a topic of
   research. Where they were created is well known: in a binary star
   system that lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation
   of the Swan (Cygnus) -- a system dominated by the Wolf-Rayet star WR
   140. Wolf-Rayet stars are massive, bright, and known for their
   tumultuous winds. They are also known for creating and dispersing heavy
   elements such as carbon which is a building block of interstellar dust.
   The other star in the binary is also bright and massive -- but not as
   active. The two great stars joust in an oblong orbit as they approach
   each other about every eight years. When at closest approach, the X-ray
   emission from the system increases, as, apparently, does the dust
   expelled into space -- creating another shell. The featured infrared
   image by the new Webb Space Telescope resolves greater details and more
   dust shells than ever before.

                    Tomorrow's picture: falcon and hunter
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