The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), humanity’s most powerful eye in the sky, has turned its golden mirrors toward the Helix Nebula, capturing the terrifying beauty of a dying star in high-resolution infrared glory. The image shows the star's final breaths: blistering winds of hot gas slamming into cooler, slower-moving shells of dust ejected millennia ago. The White Dwarf: At the center sits the perpetrator: a white dwarf star. At the center sits the perpetrator: a white dwarf star. The carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen being pumped out by the Helix Nebula will eventually coalesce to form new stars, new planets, and perhaps, one day, new life.

Source: The Star January 29, 2026 17:41 UTC