The remnant of a dead star similar to the Sun: the secret of the famous Ring Nebula revealed

22.01.2025/00/30 XNUMX:XNUMX    473
Ring Nebula
Photo: NASA
| The remnant of a dead star similar to the Sun: the secret of the famous Ring Nebula revealed

 

Scientists managed to figure out the exact shape of the Ring Nebula and it turned out that it is not round, but an invisible object is hidden inside.

One of the most popular objects in space, which is often photographed, is the Ring Nebula. It is the remnant of a dead star, similar to the Sun, located at a distance of about 2000 light-years from us. The amazing appearance of this nebula has long puzzled astronomers. Until now, it was unclear whether it really has a round shape, or whether it is just an illusion that occurs when observing from Earth. Now astronomers have solved this problem and found out that not only a dead star, but also another object is hidden inside the nebula, writes Space.

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The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula that was formed by the death of a star similar to the Sun about 4000 years ago. When a relatively small star ends its life, it becomes a large red giant and sheds its outer layers in a way that creates a planetary nebula. The name of these objects is not related to planets, but rather to the fact that the discoverers of these nebulae initially saw that they had a planet-like shape.

According to scientists, planetary nebulae were thought to be round in shape, with a dead white dwarf star inside. Such stars form after a dead, Sun-like star sheds its entire outer layer and shrinks to a very small size, about the diameter of Earth.

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Ring Nebula Fullscreen
The Ring Nebula in visible light (left), radio waves (center), and infrared light (right)
Photo: NASA

Now, scientists have collected high-resolution images and have been able to track the movement of carbon monoxide molecules along the boundary of the Ring Nebula, which has allowed them to better understand its structure and shape. In particular, astronomers have discovered that the Ring Nebula is actually an elongated oval shape.




New data on the structure of the planetary nebula has allowed astronomers to confirm that a white dwarf star is indeed located at its center. In previous images, the star was not visible at the center of the nebula, but scientists believe this may be due to our viewing angle.

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In the Webb images, scientists have discovered several concentric arcs of gas just beyond the outer edge of the nebula, which appear to form every 280 years. This regularity is due to the fact that the white dwarf actually has a hidden companion star inside the nebula, scientists believe. This star, according to calculations, should be at the same distance from the white dwarf as Pluto is from the Sun, that is, about 5,9 billion km.


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