 Dust is a key ingredient in interstellar space because cosmic dust shelters forming stars, becomes part of planets, and can contain the organic compounds that lead to life as we know it. One of astronomy's mysteries is where did galactic dust come from? To find out, Webb will be studying dust-producing wolf riot binary stars like this one, WR 140, 5300 light years away. There is evidence that these stars, through interactions with a companion star, produce large amounts of dust in a distinctive pinwheel pattern as the two stars orbit each other and their stellar winds collide, as shown in this image. This animation shows the production of dust in the binary star system WR 140 as the orbit of the wolf riot star approaches the O-type star and their stellar winds collide. The stronger winds of the wolf riot star blow back behind the O-star, and dust is created in its wake as the mixed stellar material cools. As the process repeats over and over, the dust will form a distinctive pinwheel shape. It is possible that these binary star systems account for a large percentage of a galaxy's dust. However, the intense luminosity and heat coming from the wolf riot stars has made it difficult to study the faint, more diffuse dust in these systems. This is where Webb comes in. The mid-infrared light that Webb can detect is exactly the wavelength of light we need to study the dust and its chemical composition.