Webb telescope captures marvellous new image of Ring Nebula

This remarkably detailed new image of the Ring Nebula will reveal its intricate details and the space around the white dwarf at its heart.

Each different colour in this image of the Ring Nebula corresponds to a different chemical element. (Image: University of Manchester)

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Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to capture this striking new image of Messier 57, more popularly known as the Ring Nebula. The nebula in the image is actually the glowing remains of a sun-like star and at its centre is the star’s hot core, which is called a white dwarf.

The images were released on Thursday by an international team of astronomers. The Ring Nebula is about 2,000 light-years away in the constellation Lyra and was discovered in 1779. The object is exceptionally bright and can be spotted with moderately-sized telescopes.

Messier 57, or M57, was born from a dying star that expelled its outer layers into space, making it a planetary nebula. Planetary nebulae come in a variety of shapes and patterns, some that include delicate glowing rings, wispy clouds and expanding bubbles.

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These shapes and patterns happen as a result of cosmic processes that are not yet well understood. Just like how fireworks can have different colours based on the compounds used in them, different chemical elements in the nebula emit light of specific colours. This means that astronomers can study the chemical evolution of these objects using pictures like this.

The new high-resolution images showcase the complex characteristics of the nebula’s expanding shell but that is not all. They also reveal the inner region around the central white dwarf star, according to Mike Barlow, lead scientist of the James Webb Space Telescope’s Ring Nebula project.