The Webb Telescope captured images of a dying sun-like star, accompanied by others.

A dying star shedding its final layers in the vastness of space evokes a sense of solitude — at least when viewed through a narrative lens. However, a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope, the product of a wonderful collaboration among NASA and its European and Canadian partners, reveals that this cosmic drama involves more than one character. In a fresh perspective on the planetary nebula NGC 6072, located about 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius, astronomers discovered that the nebula’s chaotic, lopsided shape is likely shaped by the influence of multiple stars. This tangled cloud of glowing gas may contain a star nearing its end, accompanied by a companion that remains steadfast until the final bow.

The insights gained from this observation enhance our understanding of stellar endings, particularly in multiple-star systems, which are thought to be more common in the Milky Way than solitary solar systems.

Unlike massive stars that dramatically explode as supernovae and collapse into black holes, medium stars like our sun are expected to burn steadily until their nuclear fuel runs low, resulting in a gentler conclusion. This process gives rise to a “planetary nebula” — a term that may confuse, as it pertains more to the fate of an aging star than to planets. As a sun-like star approaches its twilight, it swells into a red giant, expanding about 100 to 1,000 times its original size and enveloping its surroundings, including nearby worlds. Eventually, as it sheds its outer layers, it contracts into a white dwarf star, ending its life approximately the size of Earth.

With its advanced infrared capabilities, the James Webb Space Telescope captured a high-resolution image of NGC 6072, revealing multiple lobes of material bursting outward at striking angles, like a shower of stars. This is a departure from the smooth, uniform rings traditionally anticipated from stars in their final throes. Astronomers suggest that this observation indicates a binary system: two stars, one fading while the other influences the event through its gravitational pull.

Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera showcases at least two or three distinct outflows of gas — jets extending in various directions — and a disk of compressed material at the center, likely formed by winds moving through older layers of expelled gas. The hidden companion star, though not directly visible, is drawing significant interest from astronomers. The Mid-Infrared Instrument, known as MIRI, captures expanding concentric rings surrounding the fading central star, believed to be a pinkish-white point in the image. These rings may have been etched by the unseen secondary star as it orbits its partner, interacting with the outer layers.

One of Webb’s early images captured the Southern Ring Nebula, about 2,500 light-years away, where astronomers had suspected the presence of two stars at its core for over 50 years. Only with this latest technology could they confirm the existence of the dimmer star, the actual source of the nebula. “We knew there was a binary star beforehand, but we hadn’t truly seen the star producing the nebula,” shared Karl Gordon, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “Now, with MIRI, this star glows red because of the dust surrounding it.”

Previous observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed many oddly shaped planetary nebulas affected by a companion star, sparking intriguing questions about their formation. “This is known as the binary hypothesis, suggesting that stars in binary systems are the ones that create planetary nebulae,” explained Rodolfo Montez from the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “Yet, we are still uncertain about the fate of solitary stars like our sun.” Each lobe, arc, and filament deepens the enigma of how stars similar — or perhaps not so similar — to our sun conclude their cosmic journeys. One certainty remains: when the radiant cloud of NGC 6072 eventually disperses, it will leave behind a collection of heavy elements, nurturing the creation of new and wondrous stars and planets.