Apep Star System
Happy #spacesunday, everyone!
These four shells of dust envelop a pair of Wolf-Rayet stars in the Apep star system. These stars orbit each other approximately every 190 years, with the close passes in their orbits causing releases of carbon dust, which is responsible for the dust shells.
New observations of Apep have confirmed that these shells have holes throughout them caused by a third star in the system, a massive supergiant whose orbit slices through the gas layers.
This system lies roughly 8,000 light-years away, in the Norma constellation, and is about 4 light-years across.
The image is made of a composition of multiple images taken using the JWST MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument).
Credit (image/author): NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Science: Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University)
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