Wolf–Rayet nebula

The strong, dense stellar winds from Wolf-Rayet stars consist of streams of charged particles traveling at speeds of thousands of kilometers per second.

These winds slam into the surrounding interstellar medium, generating shock waves that heat and ionize the gas and dust, causing it to glow and emit radiation in visible and other wavelengths.

[2] They have shed their outer hydrogen envelopes and their stellar winds now consist of heavier elements like helium, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen.

[3] As a Wolf-Rayet star evolves and loses mass, its winds shape the surrounding gas and dust into bubble-like nebular structures.

[citation needed] Eventually the star will shed more matter, ending its life in a spectacular supernova explosion that will dramatically alter the Wolf-Rayet nebula's structure and composition.