A prominent planetary nebula in Lyra, lying approximately halfway between the starsSulafat and Sheliak in the sky. The nebula represents the outer shell of a star that collapsed into a white dwarf very approximately 1,600 years ago, and has expanded to form a ring-shaped structure more than half a light year across.
The Ring Nebula is one of the easiest deep sky objects to locate. It falls about halfway between the starsSulafat and Sheliak in the compact but distinct constellation of Lyra, not far from the brilliantstarVega. Its ring shape is detectable with even a modest telescope.
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