Ring Nebula Deep Field
Credit & Copyright: Vicent Peris (DSA / OAUV / PixInsight), Jack Harvey
(DSA / SSRO),
Steve Mazlin
(DSA / SSRO), Jose Luis Lamadrid (DSA / ceFca), Ana
Guijarro (CAHA), RECTA, DSA.
Explanation: A familiar sight to sky enthusiasts with even a small
telescope, the
Ring
Nebula (M57) is some 2,000 light-years away in the musical
constellation Lyra.
The
central
ring is about one light-year across, but
this
remarkably deep exposure - a collaborative effort combining data from three
different telescopes -
explores the looping filaments
of glowing gas extending much farther from the nebula's
central
star. 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. This remarkable composite image includes narrowband image
data recording the Ring's atomic hydrogen emission (shown as violet) in visible
light and molecular hydrogen emission (shown as red) at near infrared
wavelengths. The much
more distant spiral galaxy IC
1296 is also visible at the upper right.
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry
Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official:
Phillip Newman Specific rights
apply.
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