Artist’s impression of a Wolf–Rayet star

This artist’s impression shows the bright core of a Wolf–Rayet star surrounded by a nebula of material which has been expelled by the star itself.
Wolf–Rayet stars are hot and massive with lifespans of a few million years. They are thought to end in dramatic supernova explosions, ejecting the elements forged in their cores into the cosmos.
Credit: ESO/L. Calçada