The Ring Nebula is a glowing gas-filled donut in the latest JWST snap

Date:
Fri, 04 Aug 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Description:
JWST/NIRcam composite image of the Ring Nebula. The image clearly shows the main ring, surrounded by a faint halo and with many delicate structures. The interior of the ring is filled with hot gas. The star which ejected all this material is visible at the very center. NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST Ring Nebula Team photo. Image processing by Roger Wesson The plenary nebula about 2,600 light-years away can be seen with backyard telescopes and boasts stunning colors. The post The Ring Nebula is a glowing gas-filled donut in the latest JWST snap appeared first on Popular Science .

FULL STORY ====================================================================== JWST/NIRcam composite image of the Ring Nebula. The image clearly shows the main ring, surrounded by a faint halo and with many delicate structures. The interior of the ring is filled with hot gas. The star which ejected all this material is visible at the very center. NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST Ring Nebula Team photo. Image processing by Roger Wesson

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just headed into its second year in service , and recently recorded new images of the Ring Nebula named Messier
57 . This nebula is about 2,600 light-years away from Earth, located in the Lyra constellation. The images were released by an international team of astronomers who are part of the JWST Ring Nebula Project.

[Related: James Webb Space Telescope reconstructed a star party, and youre invited .]

The Ring Nebula is a common target for space enthusiasts and is known for a donut-shaped ring of dust and gas that can even be viewed with backyard telescopes in the summer months.

I first saw the Ring Nebula as a kid through just a small telescope, Western University astrophysicist and member of the JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project Jan Cami said in a statement . I would never have thought that one day, I would be part of the team that would use the most powerful space telescope ever built, to look at this object.

Messier 57 is known as a planetary nebula . These objects are the colorful remnants of dying stars that have tossed a majority of their mass at the end of their stellar lives. Nebulae like the Ring Nebula come in a variety of shapes and patterns, from something that looks like a lobster , to expanding bubbles , to cotton candy-like clouds . The Ring Nebulas vibrant colors are shown in a whole new light with JWSTs NIRcam .

We are amazed by the details in the images, better than we have ever seen before. We always knew planetary nebulae were pretty. What we see now is spectacular, University of Manchester astrophysicist Albert Zijlstra said in
a statement. A close-up of the southern part of the outer halo, the part outside the main ring. The team finds several hundred linear features, pointing approximately at the central star. Their origin is not yet clear.
How a single star can create such a complex nebula is not well understood. JWST will be used to study the structure, and the origin of the clumps and stripes. In the background, thousands of more distant, numerous faint
galaxies can be seen, some with clear spiral structure. CREDIT: The
University of Manchester.

The patterns in the Ring Nebula are the consequence of a complicated array of different physical properties that astronomers are still figuring out. The light from its hot and central star is illuminating the layers in the
pattern. Similar to fireworks , different chemical elements within the Ring Nebula emit specific light colors. The colors help scientists understand the chemical evolution of these objects in better detail.

These images hold more than just aesthetic appeal; they provide a wealth of scientific insights into the processes of stellar evolution. By studying the Ring Nebula with JWST, we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the life cycles of stars and the elements they release into the cosmos, member and co-lead scientist of the JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project Nick Cox said in a statement .

[Related: This highly detailed image of the Cats Eye Nebula might finally help us understand how it formed .]

Investigating Messier 57 in this detail can also help astronomers better understand the sun. When stars of similar sizes to our solar systems central star run out of the fuel needed for nuclear fusion , they cant support themselves against their own gravity. This ends the balancing forces that
kept the star stable for millions to billions of years.

The stars outer layers are blasted outward as the core collapses , since nuclear fusion is still occurring in these outside layers. The star will initially become a red giant, which is expected to happen to our sun in about five billion years. Eventually, the outer shells will cool and disperse in
the variety of shapes nebulae are famous for.

We are witnessing the final chapters of a stars life, a preview of the Suns distant future so to speak, and JWSTs observations have opened a new window into understanding these awe-inspiring cosmic events, astronomer and co-lead scientist of the JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project Mike Barlow from University College London said in a statement . We can use the Ring Nebula as our laboratory to study how planetary nebulae form and evolve.

The post The Ring Nebula is a glowing gas-filled donut in the latest JWST
snap appeared first on Popular Science . Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.



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