This visual shows two images side by side of the Ring Nebula. The image on the left shows Webb’s NIRCam view and the image on the right shows Webb’s MIRI image. The left image shows the planetary nebula as a distorted donut with a rainbow of colours with a blue/green inner cavity and clear filamental structure in the inner region of the ring. The right image shows the nebula with a red/orange central cavity with a ring structure that transitions from colours of yellow to purple/blue.]
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the well-known Ring Nebula with unprecedented detail. Formed by a star throwing off its outer layers as it runs out of fuel, the Ring Nebula is an archetypal planetary nebula. The object is also known as M57 and NGC 6720, and is relatively close to Earth at roughly 2,500 light-years away.
The new images provide unprecedented spatial resolution and spectral sensitivity, which also reveal unique details across both infrared observations. For example, the new image from NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) shows the intricate details of the filament structure of the inner ring, while the new image from MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) reveals particular details in the concentric features in the outer regions of the nebulae’s ring.
There are some 20,000 dense globules in the nebula, which are rich in molecular hydrogen. In contrast, the inner region shows very hot gas. The main shell contains a thin ring of enhanced emission from carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Roughly ten concentric arcs are located just beyond the outer edge of the main ring. The arcs are thought to originate from the interaction of the central star with a low-mass companion orbiting at a distance comparable to that between the Earth and the dwarf planet Pluto. In this way, nebulae like the Ring Nebula reveal a kind of astronomical archaeology, as astronomers study the nebula to learn about the star that created it.
This image of the Ring Nebula appears as a distorted doughnut. The nebula’s inner cavity hosts shades of blue and green, while the detailed ring transitions through shades of orange in the inner regions and pink in the outer region. The ring’s inner region has distinct filament elements.]Credit:
ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson
The nebula is shaped like a distorted doughnut. We are gazing almost directly down one of the poles of this structure, with a brightly coloured barrel of material stretching away from us. Although the centre of this doughnut may look empty, it is actually full of lower density material that stretches both towards and away from us, creating a shape similar to a rugby ball slotted into the doughnut’s central gap.
The colourful main ring is composed of gas thrown off by a dying star at the centre of the nebula. This star is on its way to becoming a white dwarf — a very small, dense, and hot body that is the final evolutionary stage for a star like the Sun.
Finderchart for Ring Nebula and host constellation Lyra in the late August evening skies. This is the view from mid-northern latitudes. Credit: A.Fazekas/SkySafariPro
starchart showing position of Ring Nebula in the constellation Lyra, along with telescope view of nebula. Credit: Andrew Fazekas
The Ring Nebula is one of the most notable objects in our skies. It was discovered in 1779 by astronomers Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix and Charles Messier, and was added to the Messier Catalogue. Both astronomers stumbled upon the nebula when trying to follow the path of a comet through the constellation of Lyra, passing very close to the Ring Nebula.
Credit: ESA/NASA Presss Release
