Looking down a barrel of gas at a doomed star
One of the most famous of all planetary nebulae. A dying star has thrown off some of its outer material thousands of years ago. The nebula is situated 2.000 light years away in the constellation Lyra.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured the sharpest view yet of the most famous of all planetary nebulae: the Ring Nebula (M57). In this October 1998 image, the telescope has looked down a barrel of gas cast off by a dying star thousands of years ago. This photo reveals elongated dark clumps of material embedded in the gas at the edge of the nebula; the dying central star floating in a blue haze of hot gas. The nebula is about a light-year in diameter and is located some 2, 000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Lyra.
Credit:About the Image
About the Object
Name: | Ring Nebula |
Type: | Milky Way : Nebula : Type : Planetary |
Distance: | 2500 light years |
Constellation: | Lyra |
Category: | Nebulae |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 18 53 34.87 |
Position (Dec): | 33° 1' 41.87" |
Field of view: | 2.01 x 2.06 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 33.4° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical Heii | 469 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical Oii | 501 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |
Optical Nii | 658 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFPC2 |