New Delhi: The National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) never ceases to amaze its stargazers and astronomy lovers as it consistently feeds the curiosity of its followers by sharing images and clips of celestial bodies and cosmic phenomena on its social media platforms.
This time, NASA took to Twitter to share the mesmerizing image of a “cosmic superbloom.” Sharing the hypnotic rare picture of one of the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly detectable stars – Wolf-Rayet star- NASA wrote- “A cosmic superbloom” and complemented it with a flower emoji.
A cosmic superbloom
The latest image from @NASAWeb features the rare prelude to a supernova in the blooming shape of a Wolf-Rayet star. Learn more: https://t.co/gSBTyHQ7H0 pic.twitter.com/6QqZmRWQDR— NASA Ames (@NASAAmes) Mar 18, 2023
According to the American space agency the “cosmic superbloom” is the latest image taken by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and it features the rare prelude to a supernova in the blooming shape of a Wolf-Rayet star – WR 124.
According to NASA, the star in the image is situated 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta. The star is special for astronomers as it is one of the few stars that is going through a rare brief stage called the Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova. Interesting facts about the WR 124 are that it is 30 times the mass of the Sun and has shed 10 Suns’ worth of material.
