The James Webb Space Telescope Reveals New Colorful Portraits of the Ring Nebula.
The Mystery of the Ring Nebula
Wesson and his international team, known as ESSENcE (Evolved StarS and Nebulae in the JWST Era), utilized the Near Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument of the James Webb Space Telescope to capture unprecedented details that may help them understand how planetary nebulae evolve over time.
Wesson stated: “The iconic ring structure of the nebula consists of approximately 20,000 individual dense molecular hydrogen clumps, each with a mass equivalent to that of Earth.”
This image shows the Ring Nebula with exceptional detail, resembling the filaments inside the ring. (Photo: ESA/Webb/NASA/CSA).
Outside the circle, sharp spiky features extend away from the dying star, glowing in infrared light but only faintly visible in previous images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The research team believes these spikes are due to molecules forming in the dense darkness of the ring.
The images captured using the Mid-Infrared Instrument, also known as MIRI, provide clear, sharp images of the faint halo surrounding the ring.
Ten Concentric Features
Wesson remarked: “A surprising revelation is the presence of up to ten concentric features, evenly spaced within this faint halo.”
Initially, the research team thought the observed arcs were formed as the central star shed its outer layers over time. However, thanks to the sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists now believe that there may be something else responsible for creating the arcs within the halo.
These new images capture the intricate details of the planetary nebula, a massive cloud of gas and cosmic dust that contains the remnants of a dying star.
Two images were taken at different wavelengths of infrared light, which are not visible to the human eye with the instruments aboard the space observatory. The James Webb Space Telescope had previously captured another view of the Ring Nebula, as well as the similarly shaped Southern Ring Nebula.
Long favored by astronomers, the Ring Nebula has been studied for many years due to the insights it offers into the life cycle of stars. It is located in the constellation Lyra, more than 2,000 light-years from Earth, but on clear summer evenings, skywatchers with binoculars can observe it.
Some nebulae serve as star nurseries where stars are born. The Ring Nebula is formed as a dying star, known as a white dwarf, begins to shed its outer layers into space, creating glowing rings and expanding clouds of gas.
