Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Lyra (Lyr)  ·  Contains:  IC 1296  ·  M 57  ·  NGC 6720  ·  Ring Nebula
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M57 - Ring Nebula, David Hickey
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M57 - Ring Nebula

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M57 - Ring Nebula, David Hickey
Powered byPixInsight

M57 - Ring Nebula

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Description

M57, the Ring Nebula, is a bright planetary nebula in the constellation Lyra. M57 was formed when a red giant star shed its outer layers of gas on its way to becoming a white dwarf. It was discovered in 1779 by Charles Messier. The white dwarf remnant can be seen in the center of the nebula shining at a dim magnitude 15, as opposed to the nebula at magnitude 8.8. M57 is located 2,200 light years from Earth and is still expanding at a rate of approximately one arcsecond per century, which corresponds to a velocity of about 20-30 km/s.

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M57 - Ring Nebula, David Hickey