Ring Nebula, JWST image


James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) image of the planetary nebula Messier 57 (M57), also known as the Ring Nebula. It's located in the Lyra constellation, approximately 2,500 light years away from Earth. The glowing gas ring is the result of a sun-like star's death. As the star runs out of fuel, the outer layers of ionised gas get heated by intense radiation from the core, which are then expelled into interstellar space. 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. Image obtained by the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).


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Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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