[poconopundit]

Thanks for this, coloradan.  I just Googled the question: Are nebula rainbow colored? and got back a few links to further explain how it works.

[coloradan]

The ring nebula does have a rainbow coloration in visible light, although it’s very faint and needs time exposures to bring it out. But the JWST sees mostly IR wavelengths, and so they just pick colors to display the images they take. I don’t know if yhere is any set rules for how they do that, or if they just try a bunch and then publish the one they thought looked best.