Hubble HD: 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.