Two stars were once believed to be present in the Southern Ring Nebula, a Milky Way object located about 2,000 light years from Earth.
One is a white dwarf star that is nestled in the centre of the nebula and has been ejecting streams of gas and dust into space for thousands of years. These streams have helped to create the cloud that surrounds it.
The extremely hot white dwarf, which has lost most of its brilliance, is the less noticeable of the two stars in the July Webb photos.
The white dwarf has given astronomers a glimpse into how our own Sun can perish in the future, after billions of years.