2023-08-07 11:06:21
The télescope spatial James Webb (JWST or Webb) photographed the Lyra Nebula in the form of a glowing green and purple eye, presenting this familiar astronomical object in a whole new light.
In the direction of the constellation of the Lyre, this nebula is regarding 2,600 light-years away. This is what astronomers call a planetary nebulawhich forms when a dying star sheds its outer layers to create a veil of gas and dust.
Luckily, this nebula is oriented so that, from Earth, we see it head-on, with the stellar corpse at the center encircled by its glowing nitrogen-sulphur ring. The whole thing is enveloped in a veil of gaseous oxygen, which gives it a greenish hue when starlight passes through it.
Close-up of the central parts of the image. The brightest star is the dying and extremely hot central star. She has used up all her fuel and is cooling down. It will become a white dwarf, an inert remnant of a star. (University of Manchester)
According to Mike Barlow of University College London:
We are witnessing the final chapters of a star’s life, a glimpse into the Sun’s distant future so to speak. We can use the Lyra Nebula as a laboratory to study the formation and evolution of planetary nebulae.
The inner workings of the Lyra Nebula and other similar nebulae are extraordinarily complex, with knots of dense gas, scattered clouds and vaporous bubbles, all of which interact with each other in ways researchers are unaware of. not quite yet. The new JWST observations reveal the area near the star in unprecedented detail, which should shed new light on what’s going on there.
They also include information on the chemical composition of the nebulaas Els Peeters of Western University in Canada puts it:
We even found large carbon molecules in this object, and we don’t yet have a clear idea how they got there. These molecules might be proof that the chemical interactions that occur in planetary nebulae are just as complex as physical interactions.
The image presented on the University of Manchester website: Manchester astronomer captures stunning images of the Ring Nebula on James Webb Space Telescope and on the University College London website: James Webb Space Telescope captures stunning images of the Ring Nebula.
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