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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                   2023 April 2   
          A colorful oval nebula is shown star field is shown in a sparse   
          starfield. Fainter red nebulosity surrounds the bright oval. A   
        relatively bright star is seen in the oval's center. Please see the   
                    explanation for more detailed information.   
      
                         M57: The Ring Nebula from Hubble   
         Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Processing: Judy   
                                      Schmidt   
      
      Explanation: It was noticed hundreds of years ago by stargazers who   
      could not understand its unusual shape. It looked like a ring on the   
      sky. Except for the rings of Saturn, the Ring Nebula (M57) may be the   
      most famous celestial circle. We now know what it is, and that its   
      iconic shape is due to our lucky perspective. The recent mapping of the   
      expanding nebula's 3-D structure, based in part on this clear Hubble   
      image,indicates that the nebula is a relatively dense, donut-like ring   
      wrapped around the middle of an (American) football-shaped cloud of   
      glowing gas. Our view from planet Earth looks down the long axis of the   
      football, face-on to the ring. Of course, in this well-studied example   
      of a planetary nebula, the glowing material does not come from planets.   
      Instead, the gaseous shroud represents outer layers expelled from the   
      dying, once sun-like star, now a tiny pinprick of light seen at the   
      nebula's center. Intense ultraviolet light from the hot central star   
      ionizes atoms in the gas. The Ring Nebula is about one light-year   
      across and 2,500 light-years away.   
      
            Tomorrow's picture: the beasts at the center of our galaxy   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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