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planetary nebula

The Ring Nebula

A smoke-ring of gas puffed off by a dying star.

Also called: M57.

🕒 When can I see it?🚀 Travel there
The Ring Nebula — Drawn, not photographed.

What it is

Famous donut-shaped planetary nebula, actually a barrel shape seen end-on.

Planetary nebula: The shell a dying Sun-like star puffs off. Nothing to do with planets. Every kind of thing there is →

How to find the Ring Nebula

Look in the constellation Lyra.

Best placed from the Northern Hemisphere.

Star-hop: Visible in a modest 4-inch scope as a tiny grey smoke ring.

Finding it: Tucked between the two bottom stars of Lyra's parallelogram.

The Planetarium works out where it actually is from your own place and the date — including whether it is above the horizon at all tonight.

What you will really see

Through a small telescope

A small, round, faintly coloured puff around a tiny central star.

🔭 See it drawn as it looks through a telescope
🖨️ A sheet to print for this
🖨️ Print a sheet and go and look
🖨️ Sheet to take outside →

Worth knowing about the Ring Nebula

On the 100-meter-track scale model of the Milky Way, the Ring Nebula would be about 2.6 meters from the Sun. Light takes 3 thousand years to get here from the Ring Nebula, so what you are looking at is the Ring Nebula as it was 3 thousand years ago.

What it is made of
One of the most famous planetary nebulae, appearing as a glowing donut — actually a barrel shape seen end-on.
How we know: Detailed images and motion measurements show we're looking through more gas at the edges of a hollow, barrel-like shell.
The numbers
Distance from us2,600 light-years

How anyone knows this

Nobody flew a tape measure out there. Every number on this page was worked out from the ground:

Next to it

The Helix Nebulaplanetary nebulaWith effortThe Dumbbell Nebulaplanetary nebulaSmall telescopeThe Milky Wayspiral galaxyNaked eyeProxima CentauristarWith effortAlpha Centauri A & Bbinary star systemNaked eyeSiriusstarNaked eye
📖 How the Milky Way fits together

Then go outside

Clear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.

🌙 Plan an evening outside🌌 Everything else in the sky