Scientists have learned new information about the life cycles of stars and the pattern of their demise thanks to the legendary James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) latest stunning image of an exploding star that resembled a necklace.
This supernova in the Southern hemisphere of the sky is the most observed celestial object in space, which exploded in 1987.
SN1987A is sited a mere 170,000 light-years from us in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy adjacent to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Astronomers are fascinated with the object because it provides an intricate view of what happens when big stars end their days.
The image shows a series of luminous rings that represent bands of gas and dust pushed out by SN1987A in its various stages of death since it was excited and illuminated by the expanding shockwaves emanating in the last moment of the collapse and going supernova.
According to the scientists, one of these rings is a string of pearls, which comprises material ejected about 20,000 years before the final occurrence.
It became possible through the James Webb Space Telescope which provided a clear view till date of the necklace and the diffusing brightness surrounding the star.
