The Ring, like you've never seen it before...
A planetary nebula is a shell of material ejected from a dying star. Located about 2,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra, the Ring Nebula is also known as Messier Object 57 and NGC 6720. It is one of the best examples of a planetary nebula and a favorite target of amateur astronomers.
The "ring" is a thick cylinder of glowing gas and dust around the doomed star. As the star begins to run out of fuel, its core becomes smaller and hotter, boiling off its outer layers.
The telescope's infrared array camera detected this material expelled from the withering star. Previous images of the Ring Nebula taken by visible-light telescopes usually showed just the inner glowing loop of gas around the star. The outer regions are especially prominent in this new image because Spitzer sees the infrared light from hydrogen molecules. The molecules emit infrared light because they have absorbed ultraviolet radiation from the star or have been heated by the wind from the star.
Image Specs:
Object Name: Messier 57, NGC 6720, Ring Nebula
Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Position (J2000): RA: 18h53m34.8s Dec: 33d01m44s
Distance: 2300 light-years or 700 pc
Constellation: Lyra
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Hora (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Instrument: IRAC
Wavelength: 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns
Exposure Date: 20 April 2004
Exposure Time: 260 seconds per sky position
Image Scale: 10.7 x 8.8 arcmin
Orientation: North is 15.8 deg counter-clockwise from up
Release Date: 11 February 2005
William B. Latter (SSC)
Massimo Marengo (CfA)
Giovanni G. Fazio (CfA)
Lori E. Allen (CfA)
Judith L. Pipher (Univ. of Rochester)
Click here for higher resolution images. -Ed.
The "ring" is a thick cylinder of glowing gas and dust around the doomed star. As the star begins to run out of fuel, its core becomes smaller and hotter, boiling off its outer layers.
The telescope's infrared array camera detected this material expelled from the withering star. Previous images of the Ring Nebula taken by visible-light telescopes usually showed just the inner glowing loop of gas around the star. The outer regions are especially prominent in this new image because Spitzer sees the infrared light from hydrogen molecules. The molecules emit infrared light because they have absorbed ultraviolet radiation from the star or have been heated by the wind from the star.
Image Specs:
Object Name: Messier 57, NGC 6720, Ring Nebula
Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Position (J2000): RA: 18h53m34.8s Dec: 33d01m44s
Distance: 2300 light-years or 700 pc
Constellation: Lyra
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/J. Hora (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Instrument: IRAC
Wavelength: 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns
Exposure Date: 20 April 2004
Exposure Time: 260 seconds per sky position
Image Scale: 10.7 x 8.8 arcmin
Orientation: North is 15.8 deg counter-clockwise from up
Release Date: 11 February 2005
William B. Latter (SSC)
Massimo Marengo (CfA)
Giovanni G. Fazio (CfA)
Lori E. Allen (CfA)
Judith L. Pipher (Univ. of Rochester)
Click here for higher resolution images. -Ed.
