In HUbble vs Webb pictures we see the dying start picture. Why after 24 years it is still is a dying explosion scene. Shouldn’t be an instant?

Question

NASA released the latest pictures from Webb. You can see a link to a dying start here:
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-033?Collection=First%20Images

I am not sure, how it is possible that after 24 years, it seems the dying star explosion is still in a very similar size and shape. Can someone please what exactly we are observing in this picture.

In: 2

Answer 1

An instant on the galactic scale IS decades or centuries on the human scale, depending on the phenomena. And think of the death of a star more like sputtering out rather than a lightbulb that shuts off almost instantaneously. So chances are, that star will look similar for decades more, with that gas cloud expanding “slowly” from our perspective.