Well that’s bonkers! JWST Captures Square-Shaped Ripple Rings Around a Star!
Citizen scientist Judy Schmidt openly admitted her bafflement when she shared a puzzling image on Twitter featuring a star surrounded by square-shaped ripple rings.
image for illustrative purpose

Citizen scientist Judy Schmidt openly admitted her bafflement when she shared a puzzling image on Twitter featuring a star surrounded by square-shaped ripple rings. Schmidt's work involves harnessing unprocessed scientific data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to create captivating images that haven't been previously unveiled to the public. This particular glimpse of the star WR 140 has garnered significant attention due to its unusual features.
The Mid-Infrared (MIRI) sensor on JWST has unveiled the presence of these squarish, evenly spaced ripples encircling the star. European Space Agency science advisor Mark McCaughrean has described this phenomenon as "bonkers." Schmidt's Twitter thread has been inundated with people sharing various theories to decipher the enigma, ranging from speculations about a fingerprint on the telescope's lens to claims of potential extraterrestrial involvement. Nevertheless, McCaughrean has reassured the public that the "red, curvy-yet-boxy stuff" is genuine—these are indeed a series of shells around WR 140, located in space around a star. McCaughrean also pointed out that a similar image can be found on WR 140's Wikipedia page, contributed by another volunteer named Melina Thévenot, corroborating that this is not a result of user error.
WR 140 is classified as a Wolf-Rayet star, which is a massive and evolved type of star. The National Institutes of Natural Sciences clarify that these stars have shed their hydrogen-rich envelope and exhibit surfaces rich in heavy elements, such as carbon, generated from the internal fusion of helium. Unlike other evolved stars that release lightweight hydrogen-rich materials, Wolf-Rayet stars expel all these heavy elements, generating a substantial amount of dust.
McCaughrean explains that the dust enveloping WR 140 is being sculpted by dynamic interactions with another star in orbit around it. However, in the case of other Wolf-Rayet stars, this sculpting typically results in the formation of spiral patterns. McCaughrean acknowledges that elucidating the geometry of WR 140's shells is not immediately apparent to him. Fortunately, there is hope on the horizon, as Ryan Lau, an astronomer from NOIRlab and the curator of this captivating dataset, has offered some promising news to those eagerly anticipating answers: "Yes, those nested 'squircular' rings are genuine. Our comprehensive paper on this subject has been submitted, so please stay tuned for the complete narrative."