Ring Nebula
| Emission nebula | |
|---|---|
| Planetary nebula | |
The Ring Nebula as seen in infrared and visible light by a multiple exposure of images from the James Webb Space Telescope's NIRCam, showing an outer layer of hydrogen that is very faint in visible light | |
| Observation data: J2000 epoch | |
| Right ascension | 18h 53m 35.079s |
| Declination | +33° 01′ 45.03″ |
| Distance | 2567±115 ly (787±35 pc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 8.8 |
| Apparent dimensions (V) | 230″ × 230″ |
| Constellation | Lyra |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Radius | 1.3+0.8 −0.4[a] ly |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | −0.2+0.7 −1.8[b] |
| Designations | M 57, NGC 6720, GC 4447. |
The Ring Nebula (also catalogued as Messier 57, M57 and NGC 6720) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Lyra.[C] Such a nebula is formed when a star, 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.