                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2024 April 28
    In the center is a colorful nebula, the most usually seen part of the
        Ring Nebula. Several layers of red-glowing gas with different
   structures are seen surrounding this center. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                        Rings Around the Ring Nebula
     Image Credit: Hubble, Large Binocular Telescope, Subaru Telescope;
                   Composition & Copyright: Robert Gendler

   Explanation: The Ring Nebula (M57) is more complicated than it appears
   through a small telescope. The easily visible central ring is about one
   light-year across, but this remarkably deep exposure - a collaborative
   effort combining data from three different large telescopes - explores
   the looping filaments of glowing gas extending much farther from the
   nebula's central star. This composite image includes red light emitted
   by hydrogen as well as visible and infrared light. The Ring Nebula is
   an elongated planetary nebula, a type of nebula created when a Sun-like
   star evolves to throw off its outer atmosphere and become a white dwarf
   star. The Ring Nebula is about 2,500 light-years away toward the
   musical constellation Lyra.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

