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Credit & Copyright: Kent Biggs
Explanation:
This colorful telescopic
view
towards the musical northern constellation Lyra
reveals the faint outer halos and brighter central
ring-shaped region of M57,
popularly known as the
Ring
Nebula.
To modern astronomers M57 is a well-known
planetary nebula.
With a central ring about one light-year across,
M57 is
definitely not a planet though, but
the gaseous shroud of one of the Milky Way's
dying
sun-like stars.
Roughly the same apparent size as M57, the fainter and
more often overlooked barred spiral galaxy at the left is IC 1296.
In fact, over 100 years ago
IC 1296 would have been known as a
spiral nebula.
By chance the pair are in the same field of view, and while they
appear to have similar sizes they are actually very far apart.
At a distance of a mere 2,000 light-years
M57 is well within our own Milky Way galaxy.
Extragalactic
IC 1296 (aka PGC62532) is more like 200,000,000 light-years distant.
That's about 100,000 times farther away than M57
but since they appear roughly similar in size, former spiral nebula IC 1296
must also be about 100,000
times larger than planetary
nebula M57.
Look closely at the sharp 21st century astroimage to spot
even more distant background galaxies
scattered through
the frame.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: planetary nebula - spiral galaxy - M 57
Publications with words: planetary nebula - spiral galaxy - M 57
See also:
- APOD: 2026 January 14 Á M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
- APOD: 2026 January 5 Á The Red Rectangle Nebula from Hubble
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
- APOD: 2025 November 5 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370 from Hubble
- APOD: 2024 April 30 Á GK Per: Nova and Planetary Nebula
- Portrait of NGC 1055