Webb unveils stunning new views of the iconic Ring Nebula
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The James Webb Space Telescope has released new detailed images of the iconic Ring Nebula in never-before-seen detail.
This planetary nebula's intricate structure and composition can be seen in the new compelling images obtained by Webb's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI).
The Ring Nebula was discovered in 1779 by astronomers Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix and Charles Messier. It is one of the most prominent and luminous objects in our night skies, approximately 2,500 light-years from Earth.
There’s just one Ring Nebula to rule them all. Now Webb has turned its eye on this popular target, revealing the complexity of its structure in unprecedented detail — and the possibility that the dying star at its center has a companion: https://t.co/wfcaLkQNAe pic.twitter.com/aA3pMDQArY
— NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb) August 21, 2023
“Planetary nebulae were once thought to be simple, round objects with a single dying star at the center. They were named for their fuzzy, planet-like appearance through small telescopes,” said Roger Wesson from Cardiff University in an official NASA release.
These sharp, high-resolution images could provide valuable insights into the formation and evolution of planetary nebulas.
The images detail the outer and inner ring regions
The development of this nebula, which has a donut-like structure, resulted from a dying star blasting out material from its outer layers into space.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA) release, the images detail various aspects of the nebula, including the “filament structure of the inner ring” and the “concentric features in the outer regions.” It adds that the image offers a direct view of one of the structure's poles.
The bright and colorful main ring is made up of gas emitted by a dying star at the nebula's center.
The nebula's outer region comprises over 20,000 dense globules rich in molecular hydrogen, while the inner region is densely packed with hot gas.
“The main shell contains a thin ring of enhanced emission from carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Roughly ten concentric arcs are located just beyond the outer edge of the main ring,” described the ESA.
Interestingly, these arcs were most likely formed by interaction between the nebula's central dying star and a low-mass companion. The latter orbits the central star at a considerable distance equivalent to that between the Sun and Pluto.
"These arcs must have formed about every 280 years as the central star was shedding its outer layers," mentioned Wesson.
When the central star's fuel is completely exhausted, it will eventually turn into a stellar corpse or a white dwarf. Even our Sun may leave behind a nebula five billion years from now in its final evolutionary stellar stage.
With these detailed images, scientists now hope to find the answer to one of the key questions surrounding it: "How did a spherical star form such structured and complicated nebulae as the Ring Nebula?"
These observations of the ring nebula were conducted as part of the GO 1558 observing program of the Webb.
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