Blue Ring Nebula

galex_glx2020-01r_img01 November 18th, 2020

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Seibert (Carnegie Institution for Science)/K. Hoadley (Caltech)/GALEX Team

Located 6,300 light-years away in the constellation Hercules, the Blue Ring Nebula is thought to be a short-lived phase after the merger of two stars. As debris from the stellar merger was blown outward, it led to the creation of a shock front, in which hydrogen atoms were excited and induced to glow with visible light, shown in pink. The shock front, and a reverse shock wave moving inward from the shock front, also caused hydrogen molecules (as opposed to atoms) to become excited and glow with ultraviolet light, indicated in blue. Infrared light at longer wavelengths is overlaid in red.

Provider: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

Image Source: /image/galex/glx2020-01r_img01

Curator: Galaxy Evolution Explorer

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Image Details

Image Type: Observation
Object Name: Blue Ring Nebula
Subject - Milky Way: Nebula > Appearance > Emission

Distance

6,300 light years

Position Details

Position: RA = 16h 48m 37.4s; DEC = 35° 12’ 9.4”
Orientation: North is up
Field of View: 32.0 x 32.0 arcminutes
Constellation: Hercules

Color Mapping

Telescope	Spectral Band	Wavelength
GALEX (FUV)	Ultraviolet (Far-UV)	150.0 nm
GALEX (NUV)	Ultraviolet (Near-UV)	230.0 nm
Palomar (COSMIC)	Optical (H alpha)	656.0 nm
WISE	Infrared (Mid-IR)	12.0 µm

ID: glx2020-01r_img01
Subject Category: B.4.2.1.
Subject Name: Blue Ring Nebula
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASA/JPL-Caltech/M. Seibert (Carnegie Institution for Science)/K. Hoadley (Caltech)/GALEX Team

Release Date: 2020-11-18
Lightyears: 6,300
Redshift: 6,300
Reference Url: /image/galex/glx2020-01r_img01

Type: Observation
Image Quality: Good
Distance Notes

Facility: GALEX, GALEX, Palomar, WISE
Instrument: FUV, NUV, COSMIC
Color Assignment: Blue, Yellow, Magenta, Red

Band: Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet, Optical, Infrared
Bandpass: Far-UV, Near-UV, H alpha, Mid-IR
Central Wavelength: 150, 230, 656, 12000

Start Time
Integration Time: 103552.
Dataset ID
Notes

Coordinate Frame
Equinox: 2000
Reference Value: 252.156, 35.2026
Reference Dimension: 1280, 1280

Reference Pixel: 640, 640
Scale: -4.16666666666667e-04, 4.16666666666667e-04
Rotation: 0
Coordinate System Projection:: TAN

Quality
FITS Header
Notes

Creator (Curator): Galaxy Evolution Explorer
URL: http://www.galex.caltech.edu
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Publisher: Galaxy Evolution Explorer
Publisher ID: galex
Resource ID

Resource URL: /image/galex/glx2020-01r_img01
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Metadata Date: 2023-02-24T09:19:33Z
Metadata Version: 1.2

Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

6,300 light years