JWST images a 15,000-light-year-old star shedding its outer layers before supernova.
WR 124 is a 30-times-massive star. When hydrogen runs out, massive stars fuse heavier elements.
Nuclear fusion generates tremendous energy surges that blow wind at millions of kilometres per hour.
This JWST image shows the star's massive winds stripping its outer layers.
According to researchers, WR 124 has already lost almost ten times the mass of the sun.
JWST captures the furthest star ever. Stars explode when their heavy components run out.
Massive stars last a few million years in the Wolf-Rayet phase before exploding.
JWST will assist astronomers understand pre-supernova dust behaviour and grain size.
Further research on the star's dust production will assist explain the universe's evolution.