M57 RING NEBULA

M57

M57 is of the class of such starburst nebulae known as bipolar, whose thick equatorial rings visibly extend the structure through its main axis of symmetry. It appears to be a prolate spheroid with strong concentrations of material along its equator. From Earth, the symmetrical axis is viewed at about 30°. Overall, the observed nebulosity has been currently estimated to be expanding for approximately 1,610 240 years.

Structural studies find this planetary exhibits knots characterized by well developed symmetry. However, these are only silhouettes visible against the background emission of the nebula's equatorial ring. M57 may include internal N II emission lines located at the knots' tips that face the PNN; however, most of these knots are neutral and appear only in extinction lines. Their existence shows they are probably only located closer to the ionization front than those found in the Lupus planetary IC 4406. Some of the knots do exhibit well-developed tails which are often detectable in optical thickness from the visual spectrum.

Technical Data

Bortle Scale / SQM-L	Bortle 4/5 / ---
Period	September 2021
Primary Scope	TOA 150/1100
Camera	ZWO ASI 462
Mount	AP 1100 GTO CP4
Total Exposure Time	20 minutes
Composition	Live Stack 20' (sub 9,81'')
Location	Val Imagna (Bergamo) Italy