For over two centuries, scientists studying planetary nebulae – the colourful shrouds of dying stars – have observed them in various forms, ranging from puffed-out circles to stretched ellipses and even butterfly-like shapes.
This image by the James Webb Space Telescope showcases a nebula that looks more like an abstract painting than a neatly arranged shell.
Beautiful show of a dying star
The nebula in question, NGC 6072, is thousands of lightyears away and is now in the planetary nebula stage.
This is a brief but dazzling chapter in a star’s life, when a star similar to our Sun throws off its outer layers, creating a glowing expanse of gas and dust.
Many planetary nebulae appear tidy and symmetrical, puffed-out and round, making them look like planetary bodies (which is where they get their name from).
But Webb’s high-resolution images reveal NGC 6072 as wild, tangled and asymmetrical, like a splattering of paint.
What looks chaotic on the surface offers a window into stellar dynamics.
Astronomers say the messy appearance of NGC 6072 tells a deeper story, likely involving not one, but two stars at its core.
Untangling the knots
By examining the nebula with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), the space telescope has uncovered hidden shapes and structures.
Instead of a single set of outflows, there appear to be multiple lobes jetting outward in different directions.
These ‘multi-polar’ outflows suggest that as the dying star sheds its outer layers, powerful forces are sculpting the gas into complex patterns.
Scientists studying the Webb images say there are at least two major outflows and possible traces of a third, all radiating from the nebula’s core.
The shape and direction of these expanding lobes suggest a companion star is orbiting the main, dying star.
This could explain why the material is being ejected in multiple directions.
What Webb has found
In near-infrared light, the central region glows blue, while thick clouds of gas and dust are seen in dark orange, interspersed with shadowy pockets.
These patterns may be shaped by dense molecular clouds forming when material gets shielded from intense radiation streaming from the stellar core.
Webb’s MIRI instrument shows rings surrounding the core, spreading outwards like ripples in a pond.
These circles could be evidence of the companion star’s influence, its orbit around the dying star carving out shells of material.
Or, the rings could indicate cycles of stellar pulses hurling matter outwards in waves
Red regions in the NIRCam and blue zones in the MIRI images highlight cool molecular gases (probably molecular hydrogen), while the brightest areas at the centre show smoother, hotter, ionised gas.