Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra

The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula found in Lyra. This is likely about 1400 light years away and its diameter is probably about 0.5 light years. The likely age of M57 is around 20,000 years.

The central star in M57 is a blusih dwarf or sub-dwarf and likely has a surface temperature of around 100,000 deg K. The ultraviolet radiation from this star causes the fluorescence in the gasses in the nebula.

Images taken with TEC-140 Telescope mounted on Losmandy G11 mount. Camera used was a Canon EOS20D used at prime focus.

Fifteen 1 minute exposures dark compensated, aligned and stacked, background removed and Digitaly Developed in ImagesPlus 2.75 Beta 2.