Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Wolf Rayet stars are massive objects that are nearing the end of their lives, and are identified by the striking nebulas of dusty material that surround them. This infrared image of WR 124, compiled from archival data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, shows off the complex dusty patterns seen around such stars.

Dust can glow brightly at infrared wavelengths, giving astronomers the chance to explore how these turbulent patterns are created around stars that will ultimately explode as supernovas. Spitzer’s extensive observations of objects like this will inform decades of future research for telescopes like NASA’s JWST.

WR 124 is located in the constellation of Sagitta at a distance of about 21,000 light years.

In this image, infrared light at wavelengths of 3.6, 4.5, and 8.0 microns is displayed as blue, green, and red, respectively. The data are from the mission archive of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.