M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra (Phil Swift)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Lyra (Lyr) · Contains: IC 1296 · M 57 · NGC 6720 · Ring Nebula

M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra, Phil Swift

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M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

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M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

This nebula was discovered by the French astronomer Charles Messier while searching for comets in late January 1779.

It would be entered into Messier's catalogue as the 57th object.

Messier and German-born astronomer William Herschel speculated that the nebula was formed by multiple faint stars that were unresolvable with his telescope.

M57 is found south of the bright star Vega, which forms the northwestern vertex of the Summer Triangle asterism.

The nebula lies about 40% of the distance from Beta (β) to Gamma (γ) Lyrae, making it an easy target for amateur astronomers to find.

The nebula disk has an angular size of 1.5 × 1 arcminutes, making it too small to be resolved with 10×50 binoculars. It is best observed using a telescope with an aperture of at least 20cm (8in), but even a 7.5cm (3in) telescope will reveal its elliptical ring shape.

The interior hole can be resolved by a 10 cm (4 in) instrument at a magnification of 100×. Larger instruments will show a few darker zones on the eastern and western edges of the ring, and some faint nebulosity inside the disk.

The central star, at magnitude 14.8, is difficult to spot.

M57 is 2,570 light-years from Earth and a visual magnitude of 8.8 and a dimmer photographic magnitude, of 9.7.

Photographs taken over a period of 50 years show the rate of nebula expansion is roughly 1 arcsecond per century.

M57 is illuminated by the central white dwarf or planetary nebula nucleus (PNN).

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M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

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M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

M57 (NCG6720) The Ring Nebula in the constellation of Lyra

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