Ring Nebula
M57
📋 A written introduction is coming — for now this page shows official values only.
Object
- Type (NASA)
- Planetary Nebula
- Distance from Earth
- 2,000 light-years
- Apparent magnitude
- 8.8 mag
- Apparent size
- 1 ′
- NASA description
- Messier 57, better known as the Ring Nebula, is the glowing remains of a sun-like star.
Source:NASA Hubble (Messier/Caldwell catalogs) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗NASA HEASARC (Goddard Space Flight Center) · checked 2026-11-02 ↗
Related
Constellation
In everyday life
- Light from this object takes about 2,000 years to reach Earth — the light you see tonight left around AD 26 (official distance ÷ speed of light).
- At magnitude 8.8 it is fainter than the naked-eye limit (about 6) — you need binoculars or a telescope.
- It spans about 1′ of sky — about 1/31 of the full Moon's 31′.