Deepsky Top-100 (13): M 57, the Ring Nebula
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Centred between the constellations of Hercules and Cygnus lies a small constellation with a very distinctive star pattern, Lyra (the lyre). Four stars form the main "body" of the Lyre: Beta, Gamma, Delta and Zeta Lyrae. Together they make a kind parallelogram. At the northwestern corner of this parallelogram a triangle of stars can be seen: Alpha (Vega), Epsilon and again Zeta Lyrae. Within this constellation lies the most famous planetary nebula in the sky, M 57 or the Ring Nebula. |
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In my 8 x 56 M 57 still looks like a star. With my 15 x 80 binoculars I saw M 57, the planetary nebula of magnitude 8.8 and a diameter of 75" already as a small fuzzy path of light, definitely not star-like anymore. With the 4-inch refractor at 100x you see M 57 as a small ring of light, dark in the middle. With the 8-inch Klevtzov-Cassegrain you see M57 like a doughnut-shaped tube of greyish light, the middle not so dark as in the 4-inch. I never spotted the central star. |
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