About 2,200 light-years away from you are the Ring Nebula, which is made up of the Cheerio-shaped leftovers of a dying star. And on Monday (August 21), scientists announced that the James Webb Space Telescope had once again struck gold, this time with a stunning new perspective on this recognizable cosmic ring.
“The level of detail in the photographs completely blew our minds when we first saw them. According to Roger Wesson of Cardiff University, “the bright ring that gives the nebula its name is composed of about 20,000 individual clumps of dense molecular hydrogen gas, each about as massive as the Earth.”
The Ring Nebula (Messier 57) is one of the best planetary nebulae we have seen so far, although it should not be mistaken for the Southern Ring Nebula, which was one of the first objects imaged by the JWST. However, the phrase “planetary nebula” may not do justice to the magnitude of this cosmic display. Planets are irrelevant to our discussion. The outer layers of a dying star, in this case, a rather spherical and sun-like one, generate planetary nebulas, which are essentially regions of cosmic gas and dust.
“At one time, it was believed that planetary nebulas were simple, spherical formations containing a single dying star at their center. Wesson explained that the planet-like appearance of these objects led to their naming. This star was still a red giant, losing its excess mass only a few thousand years ago. This ejected gas is now being ionized, or heated up, by the hot core as a parting gesture, and the nebula is responding with a kaleidoscope of color in its light emission.
What did the JWST find?
First off, the European Space Agency (ESA) produced a beautiful depiction of the perspective from which humans observe the Ring Nebula, so you can get a good idea of what you’re looking at.
According to the agency, the latest picture shows us looking almost straight down one of the poles of the building, with the colorful barrel of material pointing away from it. Remember that this is actually a three-dimensional scene. This nebula, which ESA describes as looking like a “distorted doughnut,” has a dense core surrounded by a lot of less dense material. All of that is aimed in the opposite direction, too.
A dying star makes its way through the center of the structure. White dwarfs, or “corpse stars,” are what this one will eventually become. White dwarfs are the ultimate remnants of once-great stars, which is why they have such a morbid moniker.
The bright “ring” component of the Ring Nebula observed in the new JWST image is thought to be the result of gas ejected from the dying star during the stellar death process.
Images obtained by the JWST with its “unprecedented spatial resolution and spectral sensitivity” regarding all that cosmic mayhem were obtained using an army of cutting-edge infrared sensors, as stated by ESA. This implies that the space-based telescope, which is roughly 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, was able to uncover information about the Ring Nebula’s complex structure that had previously been unknown to astronomers.
New images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope of the well-known Ring Nebula provide unprecedented spatial resolution and spectral sensitivity.
By observing the nebula in infrared light, which is beyond the range of human vision, the JWST was able to reveal details about the inner ring’s filament structure and the presence of roughly 10 concentric “arcs” in the phenomenon’s outer regions. It was unexpected to see characteristics so resembling a target.
“These arcs must have formed about every 280 years as the central star was shedding its outer layers,” Wesson speculated. There is no known method that spans the length of time required for a single star to grow into a planetary nebula. These rings, on the other hand, imply the presence of a companion star, which orbits the primary star at roughly the same distance that Pluto does from the Sun.
Specifically, Wesson explained that the companion star “shaped and sculpted the outflow as the dying star was throwing off its atmosphere,” adding that “no previous telescope had the sensitivity and the spatial resolution to uncover this subtle effect.”
The JWST’s superpowers
These results are a fitting demonstration of how far the once-ambitious dream of this machine has come to fruition.
The mission of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is to reveal to us cosmic phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye and even to some of our most advanced sensors since they are only visible in the infrared area of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Since the Ring Nebula lies within the field of view of Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), “we realized that Webb observations would provide us with invaluable insights,” Wesson added.
The JWST enabled the scientists to spot “curious spikes” away from the central star within the ring. These so-called spikes seemed quite faint in Hubble Space Telescope photos. Wesson speculated that these might be the result of molecules forming in the protective glare of the ring’s densest regions, far from the blazing center star’s direct, intense radiation.
To get into the nitty-gritty of the results, Wesson says that the group isolated a small band of emission from molecules within the ring known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs are essentially carbon-bearing compounds, but for these latest JWST observations, it is crucial that they did not develop within the nebula under study.
Not only is this not the first time the JWST has aimed its gold, hexagonal eyes onto the Ring Nebula, but it is also not the last. Recently, the machine captured high-resolution images of this region of space, and scientists enhanced the images with enchanting green and purple filters to create a stunning panorama.
In addition, the images helped scientists better understand the nebula’s complex structure.
The next step, according to Wesson, is to figure out how a simple, spherical star could have created such a complex nebula using only the data from the latest JWST images. Wesson’s hypothesis that the star is assisted by a companion object appears to be correct at this early stage, but only further observation will reveal whether or not this is actually the case. The JWST has its work cut out for it.
