Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website.

Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

WR 140 Binary System: Perspective View

This animation shows the production of dust in the binary star system WR 140 as the orbit of the Wolf-Rayet star approaches the O-type star and their stellar winds collide. The stronger winds of the Wolf-Rayet star blow back behind the O star, and dust is created in its wake as the mixed stellar material cools. As the process repeats over and over, the dust will form a distinctive pinwheel shape.
  • Release Date
    November 18, 2020
  • Science Release
    The Cosmic Dust in Your Bones—NASA’s Webb Telescope Will Investigate the Intertwined Origins of Dust and Life
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Video: NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Downloads

  • Video: 1920 × 1080, 30 FPS
    mp4 (12.1 MB)
  • Video: 1280 × 720, 30 FPS
    mp4 (5.48 MB)
  • Audio Description
    mp4 (12.96 MB)
  • Audio Description
    mp3 (35.44 KB)
  • Audio Description
    doc (18.95 KB)
  • Captions: No Audio
    srt (75 B)
  • Captions: No Audio
    vtt (123 B)
  • Image: Poster image, 1920 × 1080
    png (2.53 MB)

Related Images & Videos

Two bright, blue-white stars appear at center, with the smaller one near 1 o’clock. They are surrounded by an orange haze that spirals and takes on undulating shapes.

Apep Star System (VLT)

Evidence indicates that large amounts of cosmic dust are produced as the stellar winds of massive stars collide in Wolf-Rayet binary or multiple-star systems. As the stars orbit each other and dust is produced, a distinctive pinwheel pattern is formed, as shown in this image...

Two stars on overlapping orbits

WR 140 Binary System: Top View

This animation looks down from above the orbital plane to depict the spiraling creation of dust in the binary star system WR 140. A Wolf-Rayet star — the dense core of an aging massive star — and an O-type star orbit one another, their stellar winds colliding as they get close....

Share

Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Video Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Related Terms

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

James Webb Space Telescope

Space Telescope

Science Overview

Webb Observatory

Webb Image Galleries