M57 is the Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula in Lyra formed from gas shed by a dying Sun-like star.
What It Is
M57, the Ring Nebula or NGC 6720, is a planetary nebula in Lyra. It is the glowing shell of gas expelled by a dying Sun-like star, with the hot central remnant lighting the surrounding material.
History
Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix first noticed the nebula in 1779 while tracking a comet, and Charles Messier cataloged it the same year. Its ring shape made it one of the most famous planetary nebulae, but Hubble observations showed that the simple ring is really a more complex three-dimensional structure seen nearly end-on.
Science Notes
- NASA lists M57 at about 2,000 light-years away in Lyra with an apparent magnitude of 8.8.
- The visible ring is not a flat hoop; Hubble data show a doughnut-like outer structure with a football- or barrel-shaped region of hot gas through the center.
- The colors trace different elements and ionization states: central blue emission from hot gas, inner hydrogen and oxygen glow, and outer reddish light from nitrogen and sulfur.
- distance
- ~2,000 light-years
- diameter
- ~1 light-year
- age
- ~6,000-8,000 years
- apparentMagnitude
- +8.8
- constellation
- Lyra
- coordinates
- RA 18h 53m 35s, Dec +33 deg 01 min 45 sec
