Astronomers have captured a striking image of 17 concentric dust rings resembling a cosmic fingerprint in the latest observations from the James Webb space telescope.
The formation was created by the interaction of two giant stars, known collectively as the Wolf-Rayet 140 binary, more than 5,000 light years from Earth. The rings are created every eight years when the stars pass close to each other in their elongated orbit. During their close approach, the solar winds from the stars collide, causing the gas streaming from the stars to be compressed into dust.
