Ring Nebula (M57)
Planetary nebula · Dying star
The Ring Nebula is a glowing shell of gas thrown off by a dying Sun-like star. The hot leftover core, a white dwarf, makes the gas glow. Despite the name, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets.
- 2,570 light-years awayEven light – the fastest thing there is – needs 2,570 years to get here.
- LyraConstellation
- A white dwarfCentre
Take a closer look
A barrel, not a ring
The Ring Nebula is not really a flat ring. It is more like a barrel or doughnut of gas, and we happen to look at it almost end-on – straight down the middle. That is why the centre looks dim and the edge looks bright.
The tiny, scorching core
The star left at the centre is a white dwarf about the size of Earth but heavier than half the Sun. A teaspoon of its material would weigh several tonnes. Its surface is more than 100,000 °C, and its fierce light makes the gas around it glow.
Cosmic recycling
The gas spreading out from the ring carries carbon, nitrogen and oxygen made inside the dying star. Over time it will mix into space and become part of new stars and planets. The carbon in your body came from stars that shed their outer layers like this.
How we found out
- 1779
Discovered by Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix and, within weeks, by Charles Messier.
- 1780s
William Herschel calls objects like this “planetary nebulae” because their round shapes reminded him of planets.
- 2023
The James Webb Space Telescope reveals thousands of delicate clumps in the ring.
Where do the colours come from?
Different elements glow in different colours – oxygen often green-blue, hydrogen and nitrogen red. The colours map out what the star was made of.
See it yourself
A small telescope shows a tiny, ghostly smoke ring between two stars of Lyra, near Vega.
From the encyclopedia
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