One of the most photographed objects in the night sky is the Ring Nebula, wreckage of a bygone sun-like star about 2,000 light-years from Earth. Its striking, smoke-ring-like appearance has both awed and puzzled astronomers, who have long debated whether this remnant truly takes on a ring shape or if its appearance is merely an illusion created by our viewpoint in space.
Fresh observations of the Ring Nebula have now traced the motion of gas molecules along its border, allowing astronomers to tease out its structure in greater detail. The results show the remnant is shaped less like a perfect ring and more like a barrel, with our viewpoint aligned directly down its poles, Joel Kastner of the Rochester Institute of Technology told reporters on Tuesday (Jan. 14) during the 245th American Astronomical Society (AAS) press conference in Maryland.
