Southern Ring Nebula’s Gas (NIRCam and MIRI Composite Compass Image)

This is an image of the Southern Ring Nebula (NGC 3132), captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The image combines near- and mid-infrared light from three filters.

Webb’s image highlights the very hot gas that surrounds the central stars. This hot gas is banded by a sharp ring of cooler gas.
By accounting for the temperatures and gas contents in both areas, inside and outside the band, and by combining Webb’s data with precise measurements from other observatories, scientists were able to create far more accurate models to demonstrate when gas was ejected by the central star (which appears red in this image).

[Image Description: Webb’s view of the Southern Ring Nebula appears as a misshapen oval that is slightly angled from the top left to the bottom right. The image shows two stars that are almost overlapping at the center. A large almost solid white oval surrounds the central stars.]