At least 17 rings can be seen surrounding WR 140. These shells of dust are formed as the binary stars<\/a> pass close by in their orbits around one another.<\/p>\n Each close orbital pass causes their stellar winds \u2013 streams of particles emanating from the stars \u2013 to interact, ejecting the shells out into space.<\/p>\n See the James Webb Space Telescope\u2019s latest images<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n According to<\/span> Ryan Lau, principal investigator of the Webb Early Release Science program that observed the star, the even spacing of the rings indicates the events that cause the shell formation happen with clockwork regularity: once in each 8-year orbit.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe 17 shells can be counted like tree rings, showing more than 130 years of dust formation,\u201d Lay says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur confidence in this interpretation of the image was strengthened by comparing our findings to the\u00a0geometric dust models<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by Yinuo Han, a doctoral student at the University of Cambridge, which showed a near-perfect match to our observations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The shells seen furthest from the binary star have travelled over 70,000 times the distance between Earth and the Sun, at speeds of around 6 million miles per hour.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/01\/JWST-galaxies-ba2f7b8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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