Webb Images The Ring Nebula With MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) #webb #space #astronomy

The well-known Ring Nebula has been studied in unprecedented detail by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The Ring Nebula is a classic example of a planetary nebula, having been created by a star shedding its outer layers when it runs out of fuel. It is also known as M57 and NGC 6720, and both are located around 2,500 light-years from Earth.

Unprecedented spectral sensitivity and spatial resolution are offered by this new picture. Particular details in the concentric structures in the outer portions of the nebulae's ring are revealed by Webb's MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) (right).

The nebula has around 20,000 compact globules that are abundant in molecular hydrogen. The inside, however, exhibits very hot gas. A thin ring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carbon-based molecules, emits more energy than the main shell. Approximately ten concentric arcs that extend just past the main ring's periphery. The interaction between the central star and a low-mass companion, which orbits at a distance similar to that between the Earth and the dwarf planet Pluto, is assumed to be the source of the arcs. As astronomers investigate nebulae like the Ring Nebula to understand the star that formed it, they disclose a sort of galactic archaeology in this way.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson

[williamforrest]

Please, say which infrared wavelength(s) went into this image!