Technologies

A ‘Messy’ Star Death: How an Early Muse of NASA’s Webb Telescope Came to Be

The Southern Ring Nebula, brought to you by a star’s explosive demise.

When NASA released the James Webb Space Telescope’s very first images this year, astronomers and space-lovers all over the world were met with a menagerie of blurred galaxies from near the beginning of time, coffee-hued dust clouds brimming with wonderful secrets and incandescent realms fit for Disney princess castles. It was a glorious moment for humankind, witnessing how stars can unite us beneath our layers of division.

But among this trailblazing telescope’s first five images, one especially stood out not only for its beauty but also for its mystery — a striking portrait of the Southern Ring Nebula hid an important history yet to be known. Simply, scientists wanted to learn what, exactly, caused this intricate, amoeba-shaped, ancient star explosion aftermath to exist?

Et, voila.

On Thursday, an international team of nearly 70 astronomers used the JWST’s stunning image to deduce the Southern Ring Nebula’s backstory.

Details are published in the journal Nature Astronomy, but basically, what they found is that some 2,500 years ago, a star nearly three times the size of our sun died at about 500 million years of age.

When it died, they say, the stellar body ejected most of its mass into surrounding space, forming shrouds of gas that slowly expanded with time until they turned into the complex folds we see today in the JWST’s Southern Ring Nebula structure.

Then, when all was said and done, the deceased star left behind a sort of corpse, or white dwarf star, with about half the mass of our sun but around the size of Earth. (That’s super dense, to be clear).

Plus, as an added surprise, the astronomers also found evidence of two or three companion stars they believe hastened the blown up star’s death — as well an «innocent bystander» star that might’ve just gotten caught up in the mix.

«When we first saw the images, we knew we had to do something, we must investigate!» Orsola De Marco, lead author of the paper and astrophysicist at Macquarie University, said in a statement. «The community came together, and from this one image of a randomly chosen nebula, we were able to discern much more precise structures than ever before. The promise of the James Webb Space Telescope is incredible.»

That Southern Ring Nebula image really is something

Even back in July, the JWST’s Southern Ring Nebula rendition had raised eyebrows during its reveal. I mean, at the top left of one version of the JWST’s view, taken with the Mid-Infrared instrument, a weird bluish line ended up literally being a galaxy photobomber.

«I made a bet that said, ‘It’s part of the nebula,'» NASA astronomer Karl Gordon recounted during the unveiling. «I lost the bet, because then we looked more carefully at both Nircam and MIRI images, and it’s very clearly an edge-on galaxy.»

We were also able to see not one but two stars dance around one another at the marvel’s center for the first time, stirring the pot of gas and dust to create the ornate patterns that make the image perfect as an iPhone background. (Yes, one of these is the white dwarf that De Marco and fellow scientists discuss in their latest paper.)

«This star is now small and hot but is surrounded by cool dust,» Joel Kastner, another team member from the Rochester Institute of Technology, said in a statement. «We think all that gas and dust we see thrown all over the place must have come from that one star, but it was tossed in very specific directions by the companion stars.»

The other star visible in the JWST’s photo, according to the team, is just one of the companion stars that orbits the central star while the latter loses mass over time.

However, as to why the team believes there aren’t just two stars at play here but rather three, four – maybe more – that’s because of how a series of spiral structures seem to be moving out from the center, generating arches, and how a 3D view of the nebula’s data points to irregular jets of matter shooting from the phenomenon’s center.

«We first inferred the presence of a close companion because of the dusty disk around the central star, the further partner that created the arches and the super far companion that you can see in the image,» De Marco said. «Once we saw the jets, we knew there had to be another star or even two involved at the center, so we believe there are one or two very close companions, an additional one at middle distance and one very far away.

«If this is the case, there are four or even five objects involved in this messy death.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 16, #950

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 16 #950.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a very intriguing blue group. You’ll notice some band names, but can you locate what they have in common? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Worn on heads.

Green group hint: Nighty-night.

Blue group hint: Bands with something alphabet-related in common.

Purple group hint: Like great.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Kinds of hats.

Green group: Components of a kid’s bedtime routine.

Blue group: Musical acts with «A» as the only vowel.

Purple group: Grand ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is kinds of hats. The four answers are derby, fedora, Panama and porkpie.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is components of a kid’s bedtime routine. The four answers are bath, brushing, pajamas and story.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is musical acts with «A» as the only vowel. The four answers are Alabama, Bananarama, Kansas and Santana.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is grand ____. The four answers are Bahama, Canyon, piano and slam.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Quick tips for Connections

#1: Say the clue words out loud, pausing before and after each. That helps you hear the words in the context of a phrase. The Connections editors love to group words together that are used in similar phrasing, like ____ Up.

#2: Don’t go for the obvious grouping. These editors are smart. Once, they offered SPONGE, BOB, SQUARE and PANTS in the same puzzle. None of those words were in the same category. If you like, hit the «shuffle» button to give yourself a different perspective on the words.

#3: Break down any compound words and look for similarities. «Rushmore» was once in a puzzle where the connection was that each word started with the name of a rock band.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 16, #480

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 16, No. 480.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one, with some odd words and bizarre categories. If you’re struggling with it but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Don’t get hurt!

Green group hint: Exaggerated language.

Blue group hint: Ouch!

Purple group hint: Not northern.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Protective gear.

Green group: Hype.

Blue group: Sharp things.

Purple group: «Southern ____» schools.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is protective gear. The four answers are gloves, helmet, mouth guard and shoulder pads.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is hype. The four answers are anticipation, ballyhoo, buildup and buzz.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sharp things. The four answers are dart, hairpin turn, ice skate and javelin.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is «Southern ____» schools. The four answers are California, Illinois, Methodist and Miss.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Quick tips for Connections: Sports Edition

#1: Don’t grab for the easiest group. For each word, think about other sports categories it might fit in – is this a word that can be used in football, or to describe scoring options?

#2: Second meanings are important. The puzzle loves to use last names and even college names that mean other things, to fool you into thinking they are words, not names.

#3: And the opposite is also true. Words like HURTS might seem like a regular word, but it’s also the last name of at least one pro athlete.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Jan. 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 16.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? I thought it was exceptionally tough today, and was convinced 1-Across was «MAD» Max. (Spoiler, it’s not.) I also figured 1-Down was BOOZE, which did not work with 1-Across, and was wrong either way. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.