---
title: "James Webb Space Telescope Spots Stellar Death Shrouds"
description: "The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a rare glimpse at the gaseous \"shrouds\" that surround dying stars before they go supernova."
date: "2025-07-13"
modified: "2025-07-13"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/james-webb-star-shrouds"
categories:
  - "James Webb Space Telescope"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "cosmic dust"
  - "james webb space telescope"
  - "stars"
  - "supernova"
---

# James Webb Space Telescope Spots Stellar Death Shrouds

![The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a rare glimpse at the gaseous "shrouds" that surround dying stars before they go supernova.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/james-webb-star-shrouds.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Embry‑Riddle / JWST / Futurism\</em\>*

In brilliant new images, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured a rare glimpse at the gaseous "shrouds" that surround dying stars before they go supernova.

Known as [Wolf-Rayet stars](<https://zenodo.org/records/1432081>), which were discovered nearly 160 years ago by astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet at the Paris Observatory and named in their honor, these ancient stars are, [as *Space.com* notes](<https://www.space.com/astronomy/james-webb-space-telescope-unwraps-the-dusty-shrouds-of-dying-stars>), surrounded by a "shroud" of cosmic dust that will eventually explode outward and lay the foundations for new stars.

These aged stars, as *Space.com* explains, have burned off most of their hydrogen. According to Noel Richardson, the leader of the team at Florida's [Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University](<https://news.erau.edu/headlines/embry-riddle-professor-undergrads-unlock-secrets-of-cosmic-dust-with-the-webb-telescope>) that found four new Wolf-Rayet systems, the hydrogen burn-off signals that the stars are dying. As they do, powerful winds that pump out of the star system roughly every eight years create the concentric rings that make up these ghastly "shrouds."

https://www.twitter.com/ExploreCosmos_/status/1942660768593277428

While these star systems' existence has been known for the better part of two centuries, their dusty veils have only been observed once before, when the Webb telescope caught similar [imagery around WR-140](<https://esawebb.org/images/weic2501e/>), an aging binary star system located about 5,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.

As explained in an [Embry-Riddle statement](<https://news.erau.edu/headlines/embry-riddle-professor-undergrads-unlock-secrets-of-cosmic-dust-with-the-webb-telescope>), this discovery from Richardson and his students not only affirms that other Wolf-Rayet stars form those beautiful, dusty shrouds in the harsh void of space, but also could contribute to our understanding of the stellar life cycle.

Astronomer Ryan Lau — who works at the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab in Tucson and helped Richardson's team with the new Wolf-Rayet images — said in the university's statement that he's looking forward to seeing what else these strange shells can teach us.

"Where does this dust go?" Lau posited. "We want to learn what exactly the chemistry of this dust is. To do that, we need to take spectra to identify specific grain composition — the physical properties — to get an idea of the chemical contribution to the interstellar medium."

To capture such poignant and awe-inspiring moments in the lives of star systems is already an incredible feat — and with the Webb telescope's sophisticated equipment, there will likely be more where that came from.

**More on Webb:** [*James Webb Discovers First-Ever Exoplanet by Taking a Picture of It*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-exoplanet-discovery-direct-image>)

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)