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.

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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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