Ring Nebula size and scale context

The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula in Lyra, a glowing shell left behind when a dying Sun-like star shed its outer layers. Hubble reveals a distorted doughnut of ionized gas with lower-density material threaded through the center. Read its scale context, comparisons, and journey links on the canonical object page.

Holm 15A*Ultramassive black hole·236 billion km

TON 618Ultramassive black hole·390 billion km

Phoenix A*Ultramassive black hole candidate·590 billion km

NGC 7027Planetary nebula·1,890 billion km0.2 ly

Cat's Eye NebulaPlanetary nebula·3,800 billion km0.4 ly

Homunculus NebulaBipolar nebula·5,500 billion km0.58 ly

Ring NebulaPlanetary nebula·2.6 ly

Helix NebulaPlanetary nebula·5.6 ly

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Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

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Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Between the smallest and the largest, perspective is everything.

About

Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.

Guides turn parts of that scale into curated essays, while focused views let you explore the same range through specific groups of objects.

Editorial

Solar System Planets From Electron to Atoms Stars To Scale Birth And Death Of Stars Black Holes To Scale

Views

Planets of the Solar System Stars of the Universe Black holes Subatomic scale

Open Scale of Space Browse all comparisons

Nebulae

Homunculus Nebula

The Homunculus Nebula is the compact bipolar ejecta around Eta Carinae, blown out during the Great Eruption of the 1840s. Its twin lobes and thin equatorial skirt preserve that stellar outburst in unusually sharp, small-scale form.

Scale fact5,500 billion km0.58 lymaximum extent

Object class: Bipolar nebula
Composition: Ionized gas, dust, stellar ejecta
Estimated age: ~180 years
Host: Eta Carinae system

Nebulae

Ring Nebula

Scale fact2.6 lydiameter

Object class: Planetary nebula
Host: Milky Way
Composition: Ionized gas and stellar ejecta

Nebulae

Helix Nebula

The Helix Nebula is one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth, a glowing shell expelled by a dying Sun-like star. From Earth it can look like a simple doughnut, but the full structure is a layered remnant built from two nearly perpendicular gaseous disks and outflows.

Scale fact5.6 lydiameter

Object class: Planetary nebula
Host: Milky Way
Composition: Ionized gas, dust, cometary knots