Extraordinary Phenomenon in Space Captured by Spellbinding New Image
30 August 2022
ByMICHELLE STARR
James Webb Space Telescope's new image of the spectacular nebula around WR 140. (JWST/MIRI/Judy Schmidt)
The Universe, truly, is full of wonders, and the James Webb Space Telescope has just given us our best views of one of them yet.
The object in question is a star around 5,600 light-years away, and Webb's infrared eye has picked out an extraordinary detail: it's surrounded by what appear to be concentric rings of light radiating outward.
While Webb's characteristic diffraction spikes are not 'real', those concentric rings are – and there's a wonderful and fascinating explanation for them.
The star is actually a binary pair of rare stars in the constellation of Cygnus, and their interactions produce precise periodic eruptions of dust that are expanding out in shells into the space around the pair over time.
More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/extraordinary-phenomenon-in-space-captured-by-spellbinding-new-image
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I read this short story years ago, and never forgot it. The planet in the story had 3 stars, so there was always light, but scanty records and legends hint at a catastrophe 
I'd like to see a movie of Stars My Destination. Maybe cast Edward Horton as the main character
Sam Delaney: "Considered by many to be the greatest single sci-fi novel" !!! I'm going to have to check it out.
I used to read a lot of Heinlein (great writer!) but got tired of his pounding on his libertarian political views. I've read most of Asimov, my favorite is The Gods Themselves. They were the ones that got me hooked.
Used to read my step father's Analog magazines and all the older greats were in it. That was the heyday of good hard SF although some good ones now too. Loved The Martian, both book and movie.
