Cosmic Scale
Ring Nebula
Planetary nebula · About 2,600 light-years
How big is Ring Nebula?
Ring Nebula is about 0.90 light-years across.
See Ring Nebula in 3D, at true scale
The Ring Nebula is the shell of gas thrown off by a dying star, now a hot white dwarf at its centre. It is really a barrel of gas that we see almost end-on, so it looks like a ring. Antoine Darquier found it in 1779.
At a glance
| Diameter | 0.90 light-years |
|---|---|
| Diameter compared with Earth | 6.7 × 10⁸ × Earth |
| Distance | About 2,600 light-years |
| Size | About 1 light-year across |
| Constellation | Lyra |
| Also known as | M57 |
Good to know
- Webb counted about 20,000 dense clumps of gas in its ring.
- Faint arcs around it may be the trail of a small hidden companion star circling the dying star.
- It is a barrel of gas seen end-on, not a flat ring: we look down its hollow middle.
- Next smaller: NGC 7662 · 0.78 light-years
- Next larger: Hourglass Nebula · 1.00 light-years