The James Webb Space Telescope captured the Wolf-Mayet star WR124 in the middle of a cloud of cosmic dust just before it goes supernova. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team)
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a dazzling image of a star about to go supernova in a massive explosion.
The picture, released by NASA on Tuesday (March 14), shows the star WR 124 in the middle of a spectacular cosmic cloud. As it goes supernova, the star, which is about 30 solar masses, is expelling its outer layers; so far, it has ejected more than 10 solar masses’ worth of material. This is a rarely seen phenomenon in some stars’ life cycle called the Wolf-Rayet (WR) phase.
“Massive stars race through their life cycles, and only some of them go through a brief Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova, making Webb’s detailed observations of this rare phase valuable to astronomers,” NASA officials wrote in a description of the images (opens in new tab) .
The gigantic star resides 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta.
TheJWST first snapped a photo of WR 124 in June 2022, just after it became operational.The star’s luminous halo is captured in unprecedented detail thanks to the telescope’s ability to detect the infrared glow of gas as it cools down to form cosmic dust.
Related: James Webb Telescope spots galaxies from the dawn of time that are so massive they ‘shouldn’t exist’
The cloud could survive the star’s supernova collapse and contribute to the universe’s “dust budget,” NASA officials said. “Dust is integral to the workings of the universe,” they wrote. “It shelters forming stars, gathers together to help form planets and serves as a platform for molecules to form and clump together — including the building blocks of life on Earth.”
The universe currently contains more dust than astronomers can explain. “The universe is operating with a dust surplus budget,” NASA officials wrote in the image description. But JWST observations like this one could shed light on the mysterious origin of all this dust.
“Before Webb, dust-loving astronomers simply did not have enough detailed information to explore questions of dust production in environments like WR 124, and whether the dust grains were large and bountiful enough to survive the supernova and become a significant contribution to the overall dust budget,” they wrote. “Now those questions can be investigated with real data.”RELATED STORIES—Monster black hole may have killed this galaxy’s star-forming power, James Webb Telescope reveals
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On Oct. 13, 2022, astronomers discovered an early-warning system to watch supernova explosions as they unfold. As seen on the image of WR 124, a thick cocoon of circumstellar dust builds around stars in the last few months before they blow up. In the aftermath of a supernova event, all that is left of a star is a dense core, which can turn into a neutron star.
Also last year, scientists discovered a dead neutron star on a collision path with a massive star, which they think is doomed to explode in a fiery kilonova — an explosion caused by two stellar corpses zooming into each other.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has defeated one of the greatest-ever fighters, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, who’s more than twice his age.
The bout was won on a unanimous points decision at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys and the biggest NFL stadium in the US.
The fight was already controversial but then arguably failed to live up to the hype. Boos were heard from the crowd in the final two rounds, after a perceived lack of action.
Boxing careers compared
This was not Paul’s first professional fight. The 27-year-old American YouTube star made his debut in 2020 with his most high-profile clash against Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy Fury last year, which he lost by a split decision.
The so-called “Problem Child” has since defeated former UFC contender Nate Diaz, professional boxer Andre August, former Gold Gloves champion Ryan Bourland and most recently MMA fighter Mike Perry.
In contrast, “Iron Mike” Tyson, 58, was ranked among the best heavyweight boxers of all time.
More on Jake Paul
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During his career, he knocked out 44 opponents – retiring from professional boxing in 2005 after defeat against Kevin McBride.
He returned to the ring in 2020 for a bout against fellow boxing icon Roy Jones, which ended in an unofficial draw.
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‘Someone’s getting put to sleep’
Earlier this week, Paul said he believed the bout would not go the distance. “No, someone’s getting put to sleep,” he said. “It’s going to be a war, and we’re both heavy hitters. It’s not going the full 16 minutes.”
Tyson was more reflective: “I’ve been through so many ups and downs since my last fight with Kevin McBride,” he said.
“I’ve been in rehab. I’ve been in prison, been locked up. Never in a million years did I believe I’d be doing this.”
Several states would not allow the bout to go ahead, and the Texas Athletic Commission only agreed to the fight if there were changes, due to Tyson’s age.
It limited the contest to eight rounds lasting a maximum of two minutes instead of three. Both boxers were also required to wear heavier gloves, designed to lessen the force of punches.
The fight was initially scheduled for 20 July, but was postponed when Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup.
Taylor defends title
Meanwhile, among the undercard fights, Irish boxer Katie Taylor successfully defended her super lightweight world title against Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano.
But it was tight. Taylor claimed the rematch 95-94 for all three judges in an epic battle.
The bout came two and a half years after the pair fought at Madison Square Garden, which Taylor won on a split decision.
Bout suffered from buffering
Earlier in the evening thousands of Netflix users in the US reported problems seeing the coverage, with some posting on social media about buffering.
At one point, more than 98,000 people had reported issues according to Downdetector, which tracks outages.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has defeated one of the greatest-ever fighters, former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, who’s more than twice his age.
The bout was won on a unanimous points decision at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys and the biggest NFL stadium in the US.
The fight was already controversial but then arguably failed to live up to the hype. Boos were heard from the crowd in the final two rounds, after a perceived lack of action.
Boxing careers compared
This was not Paul’s first professional fight. The 27-year-old American YouTube star made his debut in 2020 with his most high-profile clash against Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy Fury last year, which he lost by a split decision.
The so-called “Problem Child” has since defeated former UFC contender Nate Diaz, professional boxer Andre August, former Gold Gloves champion Ryan Bourland and most recently MMA fighter Mike Perry.
In contrast, “Iron Mike” Tyson, 58, was ranked among the best heavyweight boxers of all time.
More on Jake Paul
Related Topics:
During his career, he knocked out 44 opponents – retiring from professional boxing in 2005 after defeat against Kevin McBride.
He returned to the ring in 2020 for a bout against fellow boxing icon Roy Jones, which ended in an unofficial draw.
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‘Someone’s getting put to sleep’
Earlier this week, Paul said he believed the bout would not go the distance. “No, someone’s getting put to sleep,” he said. “It’s going to be a war, and we’re both heavy hitters. It’s not going the full 16 minutes.”
Tyson was more reflective: “I’ve been through so many ups and downs since my last fight with Kevin McBride,” he said.
“I’ve been in rehab. I’ve been in prison, been locked up. Never in a million years did I believe I’d be doing this.”
Several states would not allow the bout to go ahead, and the Texas Athletic Commission only agreed to the fight if there were changes, due to Tyson’s age.
It limited the contest to eight rounds lasting a maximum of two minutes instead of three. Both boxers were also required to wear heavier gloves, designed to lessen the force of punches.
The fight was initially scheduled for 20 July, but was postponed when Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup.
Taylor defends title
Meanwhile, among the undercard fights, Irish boxer Katie Taylor successfully defended her super lightweight world title against Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano.
But it was tight. Taylor claimed the rematch 95-94 for all three judges in an epic battle.
The bout came two and a half years after the pair fought at Madison Square Garden, which Taylor won on a split decision.
Bout suffered from buffering
Earlier in the evening thousands of Netflix users in the US reported problems seeing the coverage, with some posting on social media about buffering.
At one point, more than 98,000 people had reported issues according to Downdetector, which tracks outages.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via theSky News App. You can also follow@SkyNews on X or subscribe to ourYouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
According to a court filing, Elon Musk said that the proposed initial coin offering (ICO) “would simply result in a massive loss of credibility for OpenAI.”