M57 - The Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula (NGC6720, M57) is a planetary nebula in the constellation Lyra. It is the result of a star (visible in the center of the ring) which ejected its outer shell of gas into surrounding space. It is located at a distance of approximately 4000 light years and the ring itself is approximately 1/2 light year across. More information about this object can be found at the Web Nebulae - Ring Nebula and at the Messier Database - M57.
Also visible in this image at the lower left is a faint 14.8 magnitude spiral galaxy, UGC11374 (IC1296). This image is a WCMY composite of 35, fifteen-second exposures with no filter from 12 June 1999 (see below) along with cyan (29x15sec), magenta (21x15sec), and yellow (15x15sec) filtered exposures from 12 September 1999.
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