| Description: The Ring Nebula is arguably the most famous planetary
nebula in the sky, well known to amateurs and professionals alike. Nestled near
the foot of Lyra, it was formed when a fairly average star reached the end of
its life and threw its outer atmosphere off into space. The expanding ring of
material that gives the nebula its name is heated by the white dwarf in the
middle of the nebula, causing it to glow. The spiral galaxy in the lower-left is
IC1296.
Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 30 x 15s white light images. Due to bright moonlight, a ramping effect present on the original has been removed by subtracting a blurred version of the original image. Image taken 10/03/2006 01:12 UT. |
| Description: Two more images of the Ring Nebula, in true colour (top) and including infrared (bottom). The seeing on this night was particularly good and the image has been blown up by a factor of 2 to show the detail.
Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 20 x 15s white light images with 20 x 15s R, V and B band (top) and 20 x 15s I, R and V band (bottom) for colour. Image taken 28/05/2006 22:13 UT. |
Physical information: Magnitude: 9.7, size: 86"x63", a.k.a: NGC6720, white dwarf magnitude: 14.8. IC1296: magnitude: 15.1, size: 66"x48", p.a. 80 deg, classification: SBbc.