James Webb Telescope - Southern Ring Nebula Toddler T-Shirt

The bright star at the center of NGC 3132, while prominent when viewed by NASA’s Webb Telescope in near-infrared light, plays a supporting role in sculpting the surrounding nebula. A second star, barely visible at lower left along one of the bright star’s diffraction spikes, is the nebula’s source. It has ejected at least eight layers of gas and dust over thousands of years.

But the bright central star visible here has helped “stir” the pot, changing the shape of this planetary nebula’s highly intricate rings by creating turbulence. The pair of stars are locked in a tight orbit, which leads the dimmer star to spray ejected material in a range of directions as they orbit one another, resulting in these jagged rings.

Hundreds of straight, brightly-lit lines pierce through the rings of gas and dust. These “spotlights” emanate from the bright star and stream through holes in the nebula like sunlight through gaps in a cloud.

But not all of the starlight...

https://3scape.com | Adam Romanowicz - Travel & Landscape Photographer Adam is an award-winning travel, landscape, and nature photographer with a penchant for adventure. Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Adam always had a fascination with the artistic and abstract world. Childhood days were spent drawing, building models, and daydreaming of adventures in far off lands. This daydreaming evolved into a passion for travel, outdoors, SCUBA diving, flying, and other exhilarating activities. These passions only reinforce Adam's love of photography, allowing him to show others the world through his eyes. Shooting the world since 1997, Adam strives to create a strong sense of place in his travel related fine art photographs. The idea is to...