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| M57 The Ring Nebula | ||||||||
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| The ring nebula is what's known as a planetary nebula. This object was discovered in 1779 by Antoine Darquier. They are so named planetary nebulas not because they have anything to do with planets in our solar system, but to people who viewed these objects through primative optics thought they resembled the outer planets of our solar system. A planetary nebula is the last gasp of a dying star, the actual explosion of a star is known as a supernova, it is estimated that approximately every 140 years a star goes "supernova" within our own galaxy and subsequently turns into an expanding nebula. For more information on M57, click here. I first viewed this object from a neighbors telescope about 4 years ago, it appears ghostly greyish, kind of like a smoke ring. The legendary observing challenge is to view, visually, the central star of the nebula, easily visible in this photograph but I've never seen it first hand. Scope: 12" LX200 Guiding: ST-4 Film: Single RGB on Supra 400, 60 minutes Composition: single exposure processed in photoshop and smoothed out in NeatImage |
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