Southern Ring Nebula WEBB Telescope
by Bill Swartwout
Title
Southern Ring Nebula WEBB Telescope
Artist
Bill Swartwout
Medium
Photograph - Fine Art Photography
Description
This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light, at right, from NASA’s Webb Telescope.
This scene was created by a white dwarf star – the remains of a star like our Sun after it shed its outer layers and stopped burning fuel though nuclear fusion. Those outer layers now form the ejected shells all along this view.
In the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image, the white dwarf appears to the lower left of the bright, central star, partially hidden by a diffraction spike. The same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder – in the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image. This white dwarf star is cloaked in thick layers of dust, which make it appear larger.
The brighter star in both images hasn’t yet shed its layers. It closely orbits the dimmer white dwarf, helping to distribute what it’s ejected.
Image credit: NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) - available in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract. Unless otherwise specifically stated, no claim to copyright is being asserted by STScI and imagery on their site may be freely used as in the public domain in accordance with NASA's contract (NAS5-03127).
Uploaded
July 12th, 2022
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