The longer wavelengths captured by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) are highlighting dust, revealing the star researchers suspect could be central to this scene. It appears as a small pink-white dot in this image. Webb’s look in the mid-infrared wavelength also reveals concentric rings expanding from the central region, the most obvious circling just past the edges of the lobes.

This may be additional evidence of a secondary star at the centre of the scene hidden from our view. The secondary star, as it circles repeatedly around the original star, could have carved out rings of material in a spiral pattern as the main star was expelling mass during an earlier stage of its life.

The red areas in NIRCam and blue areas in MIRI both trace cool molecular gas (likely molecular hydrogen) while central regions trace hot ionized gas.

Planetary nebulae will remain a topic of study for astronomers using Webb who hope to learn more about the full life cycle of stars and how they impact their surrounding environments. As the star at the centre of a planetary nebula cools and fades, the nebula will gradually dissipate into the interstellar medium – contributing enriched material that helps form new stars and planetary systems, now containing those heavier elements.

Webb’s imaging of NGC 6072 opens the door to studying how the planetary nebulae with more complex shapes contribute to this process.