Exploring the Structure of the Ring Nebula

This video begins with a zoom into the constellation Lyra to the location of the Ring Nebula and the new image from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope. Then the three-dimensional model of the Ring Nebula, developed from the new observations, is explored. The main ring glows in the light of nitrogen, shown in red. That ring is filled with oxygen emission, shown in green. Perpendicular lobes are filled with the hottest emission from helium, shown in blue. Dense dark knots line the interior of the ring, and their shadows glow like spikes in hydrogen emission, shown in red. Hydrogen emission also reveals the inner and outer halos. A circuit around the 3D model showcases the more accurate and more detailed structure astronomers have uncovered.

CREDITS:
NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, F. Summers, and Mary Estacion (STScI)

[DarkSmith]

Really interesting! I chose to study the Ringnebula as as MatriculationProject back in highscool. It was amazing to see how many things I could find out only by taking the spectrum of this fuzzy dot in the sky.

[jersha]

Great video, I'll use this info. at public outreach events.

[FrankSummers]

Yes, the central ring is about one light-year across.

[FrankSummers]

The red giant phase is a pre-cursor to the planetary nebula phase. Our Sun will swell to a red giant, though it may not bloat past the orbit of Venus to reach Earth or Mars. The traditional story is that the Sun will later blow off its outer layers to form a planetary nebula, but current research says it is not massive enough (need 1.5x the Sun's mass).

[zzubuzz]

0:18 the Nebula has the face of 70's t.v. show character Maude?

[NicolajTopp]

I heard the nebula is about 1 light year across... pretty big!

[wenbiaoliang]

what are the diameters of these structures? several light years?

[milleniumfalcon]

Ancient & incredible the lifespan, phases of star 🌟

[Hcheeza]

Am I the only one think that Ring Nebula looks so scary thing like "Devil's eye"

[MALCOLMACDOO]

well they say the our Sun will under go the same processes as the ring nebula. From what I've read it will swell into a Red Super Giant Star once its fuel has run out.right now our Sun is close to a million miles in diameter. Once it expands into a Red Super Giant it will be a half billion miles in diameter or out past the orbit of Mars. Almost to the Asteroid belt. One light year is 6 thousand billion miles so our star won't even reach one percent of that distance once it swells up