Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Lyra (Lyr)  ·  Contains:  IC 1296  ·  M 57  ·  NGC 6720  ·  Ring nebula in Lyra
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M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB, Douglas J Struble
M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB
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M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB

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M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB, Douglas J Struble
M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB
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M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB

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Description

The Ring Nebula, M57, discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier while searching for comets in late January 1779, is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra. Such objects are formed when a shell of ionized gas is expelled into the surrounding interstellar medium by a red giant star, which was passing through the last stage in its evolution before becoming a white dwarf. M57 is 2,300 light-years from Earth. Photographs taken over a period of 50 years show the rate of nebula expansion is roughly 1 arcsecond per century. The interior parts of this nebula have a blue-green tinge that is caused by doubly ionized oxygen.

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M57 • Ring Nebula in HaOIIILRGB, Douglas J Struble