# @europeanspaceagency on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DTC8KbkjOM0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/38555630-europeanspaceagency-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/63b9416fde.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-03T10:56:25.000+00:00

## Caption

What happens when two rare Wolf–Rayet stars dance through space? ✨

@esawebb just revealed the answer: four perfect, spiralling shells of carbon-rich dust, cast off over centuries and expanding like a cosmic vortex.

This is Apep - a chaotic triple-star system where fierce stellar winds collide, carve tunnels in the dust, and hint at the powerful supernovae these stars will one day become.

Webb’s mid-infrared view uncovers every twist of this turbulent story with unprecedented clarity, helping scientists map Apep’s long, 190-year orbit and understand how some of the Universe’s most extreme stars live and eventually die.

📹 @europeanspaceagency 
🎞️ @NASA, ESA, @canadianspaceagency, @space_telescopes, Y. Han (@caltechedu), R. White (@macquarieuni), A. Pagan (STScI), @creativecommons BY 4.0; @esoastronomy/Callingham et al.; White et al.; Yinuo Han (Caltech), Ryan White (Macquarie University); Visualization: Christian Nieves (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI); @hubbleesa (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen)
📸 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Y. Han (Caltech), R. White (Macquarie University), A. Pagan (STScI)

## Stats

- **Views:** 58,806
- **Likes:** 5,200
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 35

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ESA - European Space Agency | @europeanspaceagency | https://gondola.cc/europeanspaceagency | Government Organization |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Content Producer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Editor |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Video Editor |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Social Media Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Writer |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Publisher |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Digital Creator |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Creator |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Copywriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Community Manager |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Subtitler |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Screenwriter |
| J.L.Lopez | @xandler80 | https://gondola.cc/xandler80 | Thumbnail Designer |

## Tags

europeanspaceagency, space

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