Two cameras aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured new images of the Southern Ring Nebula, a planetary nebula approximately 2,500 light-years away in the constellation of Vela.
Two cameras aboard Webb captured these images of the Southern Ring Nebula: two stars, which are locked in a tight orbit, shape the local landscape; they are prominent in the image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the left, while the image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the right shows for the first time that the second star is surrounded by dust; the brighter star is in an earlier stage of its stellar evolution and will probably eject its own planetary nebula in the future. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.
The Southern Ring Nebula is located some 2,500 light-years away in the constellation of Vela.
Otherwise known as NGC 3132, the Eight-Burst nebula, and Caldwell 74, this planetary nebula has a diameter of about 0.5 light-years.
“The Webb observation shows the Southern Ring Nebula almost face-on, but if we could rotate it to view it edge-on, its 3D shape would more clearly look like two bowls placed together at the bottom, opening away from one another with a large hole at the center,” Webb astronomers said.
“Two stars, which are locked in a tight orbit, shape the local landscape.”
“The stars — and their layers of light — are prominent in the image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) on the left, while the image from Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on the right shows for the first time that the second star is surrounded by dust.”
The brighter star is in an earlier stage of its stellar evolution and will probably eject its own planetary nebula in the future.
In the meantime, the brighter star influences the nebula’s appearance. As the pair continues to orbit one another, they ‘stir the pot’ of gas and dust, causing asymmetrical patterns.
Each shell represents an episode where the fainter star lost some of its mass. The widest shells of gas toward the outer areas of the image were ejected earlier.
Those closest to the star are the most recent. Tracing these ejections allows the astronomers to look into the history of the system.
“The observations taken with the NIRCam instrument also reveal extremely fine rays of light around the Southern Ring Nebula,” they said.
“Starlight from the central stars streams out where there are holes in the gas and dust — like sunlight through gaps in a cloud.”
Since planetary nebulae exist for tens of thousands of years, observing the nebula is like watching a movie in exceptionally slow motion.
“Each shell the star puffed off gives us the ability to precisely measure the gas and dust that are present within it,” the researchers said.
“As the star ejects shells of material, dust and molecules form within them — changing the landscape even as the star continues to expel material.”
“This dust will eventually enrich the areas around it, expanding into what’s known as the interstellar medium.”
“And since it’s very long-lived, the dust may end up traveling through space for billions of years and become incorporated into a new star or planet.”
“In thousands of years, these delicate layers of gas and dust will dissipate into surrounding space.”
