Many jewels are in the night sky just waiting to be discovered with a small telescope from your backyard. And a beauty is in the Constellation of Lyra, called the Ring Nebula. This Ring Nebula is a "planetary nebula".
WHAT IS A PLANETARY NEBULA?
Early telescopes were not that great in the 1780s. English astronomer William Herschel who described these nebulae as resembling planets. French astronomer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779 described his observations of the Ring Nebula as :
"very dim but perfectly outlined; it is as large as Jupiter and resembles a fading planet"
Astronomers with better telescopes and observations learned that the Ring Nebula was "no moon. It's a space station.” Sorry wrong reference, Obi-Wan Kenobi! This is no planet, but a nebula from a former bright star.
A "planetary nebula" is formed when a medium sized-star like our Sun, during the last stages of its evolution before becoming a white dwarf, expels a vast luminous envelope of ionized gas into the surrounding interstellar space.
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| Image Credit: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |
The central star ran out of hydrogen fuel long ago and shed its atmosphere to space, where it is being ionized by the white star in the middle (planetary nebula). This is the expected fate of our Sun at the end of its life.
French astronomer Charles Messier discovered this nebula while searching for comets in late January 1779 and it has been given the designation of Messier 57 as part of his catalog of discoveries in the night sky.Hope you enjoy this amazing jewel. Also my 2025 Astrophotography Wall Calendar is available. Great for your desk, an aspiring space astronaught in your family, or friend. Check is out at my online store. Thanks for your support and take care! -Erik
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| Image taken on October 24, 2024 by Erik Swindlehurst |
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