Exploring the Structure of the Ring Nebula

Hubble Reveals the Ring Nebula's True Shape

In this composite image, visible-light observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are combined with infrared data from the ground-based Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona to assemble a dramatic view of the well-known Ring Nebula. Called a planetary nebula, the Ring Nebula...

Hubble Captures a Ring

This close-up, visible-light view by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveals new details of the Ring Nebula. The object is tilted toward Earth so that astronomers see the ring face-on. The Hubble observations reveal that the nebula's shape is more complicated than astronomers...

Compass and Scale Image for Ring Nebula (HST and LBT)

Compass and Scale Image for Ring Nebula (HST only)

Mapping the Ring Nebula's Structure

This illustration depicts a sideways view of the Ring Nebula, as deduced by astronomers using new Hubble observations. The doughnut-shaped feature in the center of the graphic is the main ring. The lobes above and below the ring comprise a football-shaped structure that pierces...

The Ring Nebula Takes Shape

This video begins with a zoom into the constellation Lyra to the location of the Ring Nebula and the new image from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Large Binocular Telescope. The view cross-fades to a three-dimensional model of the Ring Nebula that was developed from the new...