Nebula
Ring Nebula
Planetary nebula · M57
A dying star's glowing smoke ring
Formed when a Sun-like star shed its outer layers. Its central white dwarf floods the expelled gas with ultraviolet light.
In your sky
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Key facts
Distance
~2,570 light-years
Size
~1.3 light-years
Apparent mag.
+8.8
Did you know
- Our Sun will form a similar nebula in about 5 billion years.
- It is easy to find between Sheliak and Sulafat in Lyra.
- JWST imaged its intricate structure in 2023.
