--- title: "James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Starlight “Fingerprint”" description: "The James Webb Space Telescope has done it again — and this time, its stunning image looks a lot like a human fingerprint." date: "2022-10-13" modified: "2022-10-13" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/webb-telescope-image-dust-fingerprint" categories: - "James Webb Space Telescope" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "James webb" - "JWST" - "stardust" - "the digest" --- # James Webb Telescope Captures Stunning Starlight “Fingerprint” ![The James Webb Space Telescope has done it again — and this time, its stunning image looks a lot like a human fingerprint.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Cosmic Fingerprint NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has taken yet another gorgeous image of the cosmos — and this time, the result looks a little like something we're very familiar with here on Earth. In [a press release](), NASA noted that the telescope's latest stunning image — which shows a binary star system called Wolf-Rayet 140 just over 5,000 light-years away — resembles a human fingerprint, with its concentric rings of stardust, formed by light emanating from the two stars. "Each ring was created when the two stars came close together and their stellar winds (streams of gas they blow into space) met, compressing the gas and forming dust," the agency's press release reads. "The stars’ orbits bring them together about once every eight years; like the growth of rings of a tree’s trunk, the dust loops mark the passage of time." https://twitter.com/Dr_ThomasZ/status/1580215641629286400 ## Centuries of Dust The stunning image is also the subject of [a new study published in the ]()[journal]()[ *Nature Astronomy*](). As National Science Foundation astronomer and lead author Ryan Lau notes, it's a fascinating slice of history. "We’re looking at over a century of dust production from this system," Lau said in NASA's press release. "The image also illustrates just how sensitive this telescope is," Lau explained. "Before, we were only able to see two dust rings, using ground-based telescopes. Now we see at least 17 of them." ![]() ## Kneading Dough Unlike other stars, Wolf-Rayet stars emit their distinctive dust clouds — which are made up of hydrogen, carbon, and other elements — as they shed their masses. "The heavy elements in the wind cool as they travel into space and are then compressed where the winds from both stars meet," the NASA press release notes, "like when two hands knead dough." The James Webb image captures the stardust as it moves outward from its star system, characteristic of a Wolf-Rayet star — a process as beautiful as it is foundational to the formation of stars. As NASA notes, it may even [provide clues]() about the formation of our own Sun. **More Webbing:** [*Usually You Can't See Rings on Neptune. With the James Webb, Though... Wow*]() ## 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]()