Object Information                                            Imaging Details

Like a smoke ring in the sky, the Ring Nebula (M57) hovers near bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra. M57 is a planetary nebula - the remnant of a moderately-sized star that depleted its fuel many thousands of years ago. It is located about 1800 light-years from Earth.

M57 is located midway between Beta and Gamma Lyrae. A small telescope is required to see the mag. 9.5 object. A moderately-sized scope easily resolves the ring structure. Photography is required to capture the colors of the nebula.

This image was taken in June, 2007 at the ASLC's 'Upham' dark sky site. Skies were completely transparent; seeing was moderate.

Clicking on the image above brings up a page showing the nebula and a larger region of the surrounding sky.

Telescope:

Celestron NexStar GPS 11"