Webb space telescope spots four dust shells in exotic ‘Apep’ star system

New Delhi: The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered four nested dust shells around an exotic triple star system dubbed Apep in the southern constellation of Norma. There is uncertainty on the distance of the system from the Earth with previous observations indicating a distance of 8,000 lightyears, but new Webb observations indicating a distance of 15,000 lightyears. More observations are necessary to resolve the uncertainty in distance. The four dust spirals were suspected to exist but were not directly observed. These shells are believed to have been emitted over the last 700 years by a pair of ageing Wolf-Rayet stars in the system.

The Wolf-Rayet stars are in the advanced stages of their lives and close to dying. There is also a third star in the system, a massive hot supergiant