James Webb Space Telescope reveals the colorful Ring Nebula in exquisite detail (photos, video)

Space.com ^ | August 3, 2023 | By Robert Lea

[Ezekiel]

The James Webb Space Telescope has imaged the Ring Nebula as a glowing green and purple eye, presenting the familiar astronomical object in an altogether new light.

Aside from its stunning aesthetic value, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) images show the Ring Nebula, also known as Messier 57 (M57), located around 2,200 light-years away, in intricate detail that will surprise even astronomers who are familiar with the object.

Located in the Lyra constellation, the Ring Nebula is a popular target for space enthusiasts as its donut-shaped ring of glowing gas and dust is visible even with small backyard telescopes throughout the summer.

The Ring Nebula or Messier 57 as never seen before in images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope
(Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/Institute for Earth and Space Exploration/JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project)

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"The James Webb Space Telescope has provided us with an extraordinary view of the Ring Nebula that we've never seen before," University College London professor and co-lead scientist of the JWST Ring Nebula Imaging Project, Mike Barlow, said. "The high-resolution images not only showcase the intricate details of the nebula's expanding shell but also reveal the inner region around the central white dwarf in exquisite clarity."

[Ezekiel]

Yes! A JWST Image of the Ring Nebula

AUGUST 4, 2023 BY CAROLYN COLLINS PETERSEN

Brace yourselves for great JWST views of the iconic Ring Nebula (M57). An international team of astronomers just released a fantastic near-infrared image of the nebula, showing incredible details...

[Hot Tabasco]

Astronomers have long been fascinated by this form of star death because it shows what will happen to the Sun in about 5 billion years

It's beyond my ability to understand how the sun can stay burning for the hundreds of millions of years it's been in existence and for billions more.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

It's beyond my ability to understand how the sun can stay burning for the hundreds of millions of years it's been in existence and for billions more.

It's possible through a process in quantum physics known as "tunneling," which allows a nice slow fusion process over a couple billion years. The sun is actually not hot enough for the fusion of hydrogen atoms to actually occur, but it is hot enough for hydrogen atoms to occasionally and accidentally fuse together and create energy.

Here's a good explanation of the phenomenon for the layman:

Quantum Tunnelling
https://byjus.com/physics/quantum-tunnelling/#:~:text=Quantum%20tunnelling%20is%20a%20phenomenon,long%20way%20on%20both%20sides.

[Ezekiel]

Ping.

Location of M57 in the constellation Lyra

[EEGator]

Looks cool.

What’s up with the flat 90 degree lines on the edges?
Is that just a decrease in the optic lense?

[Ezekiel]

That's a great page, thanks. I'll be spending some time over there.

The kid in me was immediately drawn to the description (and diagram) at the outset...

Particles move through dense barriers effortlessly as if barriers do not exist at all. Quantum tunnelling is a phenomenon where a subatomic particle or atom can be present on the opposite side of the physical obstacle that is normally impossible for the particle to infiltrate. This is as if a person is...

Gumby! That's him.

"He can walk into any book with his pony pal Pokey too. If you have a heart then Gumby's a part of you."

Gumby Theme Song 1967 remastered HD

Art Clokey was a true visionary.

Gumby In and Out of Books

In many episodes, Gumby is in a toy store playing with other toys and books. Gumby, Pokey, and their fellow adventurers are able to go in and out of the books and explore different environments and times in history. We wondered if this was done to promote literacy or imagination. Art surprised us, again.

“The books were a gimmick, you might say, for getting out of the toy shop and into another world or another setting. That’s the main reason we used them, not to encourage kids to read. That’s the way they are using these parts of our stories now, which is good. But at that time, it was just a gimmick for getting us out of the toy store and back into the toy store from the book. It turned out to be a beautiful device.”

The traveling into and out of inanimate objects did not stop with books for Gumby.

“In one of the early episodes we had a musical note that was magic. We animated the note and its stem to fly through and into a 78 RPM record. It vanished into a music-land in the record the same way Gumby could vanish into a book. When the videocassette came along we had it go into videocassettes, and we’ll be going into computers in the computer age.”

https://www.gumbyworld.com/gumby-characters/gumby/gumby-pokey-in-and-out-of-books/

[poconopundit]

Question from a novice: how are we to interpret the various colors in the composite image?

What does the green color composed of? What about the fringe pink lighted area? Are we looking at this nebula from the top down?

Curious if there’s a simple explanation for laymen? Thanks.

[coloradan]

Most of the wavelengths JWST can detect are invisible IR, so they use “false color” in which they assign red, green, and blue to different channels, amost alwys invisible. False color is also how radio images and x-ray images are also typically presented, because you can’t see those wavelengths either.

[Theophilus]

This will look like a grainy deguerotype 5 billion years from now.

[Ezekiel]

Well I suppose it's a bit of a diversion but as a very small child, I was absolutely fascinated to watch Gumby turn aside in order to effortlessly slip into the books. It was my main (more like only) reason for watching the show, so the "quantum tunneling" concept really hits home.

Linking with the musical theme of the constellation,

The traveling into and out of inanimate objects did not stop with books for Gumby. We animated the note and its stem to fly through and into a 78 RPM record. It vanished into a music-land in the record the same way Gumby could vanish into a book.

78 RPM. It's like 78 REM, because 78 equals a word with many permutations and meanings (e.g. malach* ♪, lechem). He dreamed, חָלַם, or as

חֲלֹם!‏

(to a man) dream!

REM:

"Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in humans, mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly."

A well-known saying is that the eyes are the windows to the soul, but how many people consider this especially applicable... for when the eyes are *closed.*

Well now, this really isn't off topic at all. In fact, it loops back to what Bilaam was going on about with his parables, of having an open eye [שתם העין] (but the odd word also indicates that it's closed).

Enter through Klein's:

שֶֽׁתֶם m.n. PBH 1 a hole. NH 2 (hidden) entrance into a cave. [From שׁתם.]

This ring nebula certainly led into a productive zone. I always find the best stuff merely by wandering around, "aimlessly" from most perspectives, but there you have it.

* "But I am living still."

(Join the Navi, see the world.)

Can you believe that Joseph was hated for his dreams? Hated! I can believe it.

[Ezekiel]

What’s up with the flat 90 degree lines on the edges? Is that just a decrease in the optic lense?

Pinging someone who might know how that happens.

I see this all the time on the space images, like the ones taken on Mars.

I figured it was just the result of however the composite images are merged together, or something.

[EEGator]

Thanks. It’s definitely something involving humans. :)

[Bob Ireland]

***how are we to interpret the various colors in the composite image?***

[telescope115]

I’ve seen many pictures of the Ring Nebula, and seen it in my telescope as a faint “smoke ring” in the sky. The Webb telescope is keeping us surprised with its new perspective.

I can’t wait to see what other surprises it has for us…

[Bob434]

That would make a cool abstract painting

[P.O.E.]

"It's green"

[Big Red Badger]

Fascinating!
Eye of the Dragon with it’s
Musical instruments.

[wardamneagle]

Is this the one nicknamed the “Eye of God”?

[Big Red Badger]

Gospel in the Stars

[Big Red Badger]

‘Eye of God’
My first thought also-
But the colors look demonic and
The old serpent was musically endowed.