Webb telescope captures iconic Ring Nebula in unprecedented detail
Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope for a fresh perspective of an iconic celestial favorite called the Ring Nebula.
The new image captures never-before-seen details within the colorful nebula, located in the Lyra constellation about 2,600 light-years from Earth.
The structure of the Ring Nebula can be glimpsed through amateur telescopes and has been observed and studied for years.
The planetary nebula, which despite its name has nothing to do with planets, is home to the remnants of a dying star as it releases the bulk of its mass.
Planetary nebulae usually have a rounded structure and were so named because they initially resembled the disks from which planets form when French astronomer Charles Messier discovered the first one in 1764.
“I first saw the Rin...