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Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler
Explanation:
There is much more to the familiar
Ring Nebula (M57),
however, than can be seen through a small telescope.
The easily visible
central ring is about one
light-year across,
but this remarkably deep exposure -
a collaborative effort combining data from three different large telescopes -
explores
the looping filaments of glowing gas extending much farther from
the nebula's central star.
This remarkable
composite image includes narrowband hydrogen image,
visible light emission, and
infrared light emission.
Of course, in this well-studied example of a
planetary nebula,
the glowing material does not come from planets.
Instead, the
gaseous shroud represents
outer layers expelled from a dying, sun-like star.
The Ring Nebula is about 2,000 light-years away toward the musical
constellation
Lyra.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Ring Nebula - M 57
Publications with words: Ring Nebula - M 57
See also: