M57 Ring nebula

[Gary085]

M57 the ring nebula, a planetary nebula in the constellation Lyra. Skywatcher 120mm & canon 100d. 30 secs at ISO 800. Levels and curves adjusted in PS6.

[JOC]

I've been lucky enough to see this on a couple of occasions and just think it is about just the coolest thing up there.  It's just amazing that we have just the orientation relative to it to see it as that shape.  From some perspectives it would just be a line.  I wonder how many objects that we do see as straight lines would be things like this if viewed from a different angle.

[-Joe_]

IIRC, planetary nebula can be viewed from any direction as they are near spherical objects.

As the star goes through a later stage of life, expanding into a red giant, it blows off it’s outer layer in a spherical shell.

We see this as a ring: Our view through the centre passes through much less gas than one through the edge.

I think they are emission objects, with the gas being excited by the light from the star at the centre... but I may be wrong on that...

M57 was the first object I saw with my own eyes when I first got a telescope, I still remember the excitement it caused in me, quite unexpectedly..

[SIDO]

13 hours ago, -Joe_ said:

IIRC, planetary nebula can be viewed from any direction as they are near spherical objects.

As the star goes through a later stage of life, expanding into a red giant, it blows off it’s outer layer in a spherical shell.

We see this as a ring: Our view through the centre passes through much less gas than one through the edge.

I think they are emission objects, with the gas being excited by the light from the star at the centre... but I may be wrong on that...

M57 was the first object I saw with my own eyes when I first got a telescope, I still remember the excitement it caused in me, quite unexpectedly..

Welcome to SGL Joe, Best of Luck and Clear Skies of course...

                       Freddie.

[Alan White]

M57 is one of my favourite objects, took me a long time to find it for some reason.
It always makes me grin like a 5 year old in wonder each time I observe it.
 

[JOC]

On 13/06/2019 at 08:46, -Joe_ said:

IIRC, planetary nebula can be viewed from any direction as they are near spherical objects.

This is really interesting - thank you.

[Paul73]

1 hour ago, JOC said:

This is really interesting - thank you.

If you view it through a big scope, you loose some of the ringyness as you can see the thinner face on section too.

Good capture.

Paul