Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Sat Mar 18 2023 01:55:02

                        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.

                                2023 March 18

                               Wolf-Rayet 124
        Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

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

                     Tomorrow's picture: Mayan Milky Way
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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