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M57
Messier 57
Ring Nebula
Planetary Nebula
Right Ascension | 18h 53m 36s | Best Seen | 6/15-11/15 |
Declination | 33° 02' 00" | Magnitude | 8.8 |
Constellation | Lyra | ||
Actual |
Compared to ... |
|
Distance | ~2,300 ly | -- |
Diameter | ~1 ly | -- |
Actual Brightness of central star | -- | 3 (Sun) |
Magnitude of central star | 14.4 | |
Spectral Type of central star | -- | G2 V (Sun) |
Surface Temperature of star | 180,000 °F | ~18 |
Age | -- | |
Density (gram/cubic cm) | -- | -- |
What To Look For Through The Telescope
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Recommended eyepiece: 26mm or 40 mm.
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This object will look like a faint whitish, hazy smoke ring when seen through the telescope.
M57 "Ring Nebula" Information
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The Ring Nebula was the second planetary ever discovered. Antoine Darquier discovered it in 1779.
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We are looking at the nebula from the “end,” like looking through a barrel. If we viewed this nebula from a different angle, say from the “side,” it would probably look more like the Dumbbell Nebula.
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This nebula is expanding at about 16 miles per second (25 kilometers per second).
Home > Nebulae > Planetary Nebulae > M57 > References | top |
References
Item | Updated | Notes |
Coordinates | 2003-01-09 | tweaked a bit |
Magnitude | 2003-01-09 | previously: 9.3 – BUT brighter visually than photographically: see general info page and http://messier.seds.org/planetar.html For magnitude,see http://messier.seds.org/m/m057.html |
Distance | 2003-01-09 | previously 4,100 ly – BUT different at http://messier.seds.org/m/m057.html – new CCD technique measured trig parallax for central star |
Diameter | 2003-01-09 | previously said 0.5 ly – BUT closer to 1 http://messier.seds.org/m/m057.html |
Actual Brightness – Star | 2003-01-09 | probably close enough |
Magnitude – Star | 2003-01-09 | close enough |
Spectral Type – Star | -- | |
Surface Temperature – Star | 2003-01-09 | previously gave 100,000 K – BUT giving it in ºF instead |
Age | -- | |
Density | -- | |
Other Information | -- |