High in the summer sky, in the small constellation of Lyra, lies one of the night sky’s most fascinating and famous objects — the Ring Nebula, or Messier 57 (M57). To the unaided eye, it’s just another star in Lyra, but through a telescope, it reveals itself as a delicate glowing ring suspended in space — like a smoke ring blown by a dying star.
The Ring Nebula is what’s known as a planetary nebula — not related to planets at all, but named because they appeared planet-like to early astronomers. It’s actually the remains of a sun-like star that has reached the end of its life. The star shed its outer layers into space, creating a glowing shell of gas, while the collapsed core remains in the center as a tiny white dwarf, though it’s hard to see without a large telescope.
Located about 2,300 light-years away, M57 is small in the sky but relatively bright, making it a favorite for amateur astronomers. In modest telescopes, it looks like a tiny, pale gray ring — often described as a “cosmic doughnut”. In long-exposure photographs, it shows beautiful shades of blue, green, and red, representing different gases glowing in the ultraviolet light from the hot central star.
Whether you’re looking at it through a backyard telescope or admiring an image from space, the Ring Nebula offers a hauntingly beautiful look at the future of stars like our Sun — a quiet, glowing farewell in the shape of a perfect ring.
Ring Nebula/M57
Rating: 🟣 Showpiece Target
Level: 🔵 Easy
How:
When: Jun - Nov
🌟 A Classic Planetary Nebula M57 is one of the most famous and easily recognizable planetary nebulae—a glowing ring of gas left behind by a dying star, located in the constellation Lyra.
🌟 Striking Shape Even in Small Scopes In even a 4-inch telescope, M57 shows its iconic doughnut or smoke ring shape, and larger scopes begin to reveal structure within the ring.
🌟 Easy to Find Between Two Bright Stars M57 lies almost exactly between Sheliak and Sulafat (the two bottom stars of the Lyra parallelogram), making it one of the easiest deep-sky objects to locate.
🌟 A Glimpse of Stellar Death You’re seeing the future of our own Sun—a hot white dwarf surrounded by an expanding shell of gas, offering a poignant glimpse into stellar evolution.
🌟 Great for all Skill Levels Beginners will enjoy finding and identifying it. Experienced observers may spot subtle details and possibly glimpse the central star. haze.
🌟 Always Impresses at Star Parties Its crisp shape and eerie glow make it a crowd-pleaser, even for those new to astronomy. It’s often a “wow” object for public outreach and stargazing nights.
Planetary nebula: a glowing shell of gas ejected by a dying star, typically surrounding a hot white dwarf at its center.
Ring Nebula/M57
Find the Summer Triangle with stars Vega (+0.02), Altair (+0.93), and Deneb (+1.33).
Find the constellation Lyra with Vega and the quadrilateral of four stars. Find the two lower stars of the quadrilateral, Sheliak (+3.51) and Sulafat (+3.25). The Ring Nebula is midway between them.
Using a binocular or telescope finder, point to the Ring Nebula. From the diagram, note that it is roughly midway between Sheliak and Sulafat but closer to Sheliak. If you can spot HR7162 (+5.23) in binoculars or a finder, the Ring Nebula is almost exactly halfway between it and Sheliak. Scan the area using a low-powered eyepiece looking for a 'fuzzy' star. Then explore!
Ring Nebula/M57
✅ Look for it between the stars Sheliak and Sulafat. M57 is almost exactly halfway between these two stars, which form the bottom of the Lyra parallelogram. It’s easy to locate with a finder scope or binoculars.
✅ Use low power to locate, then increase magnification. Start with a low-power eyepiece (30x–50x) to find the small grayish patch, then switch to 100x–200x to reveal the ring shape and internal structure more clearly.
✅ Use at least a 4-inch telescope. The Ring Nebula is visible in smaller scopes as a fuzzy star-like object, but a 4-inch or larger telescope is needed to see its donut shape. Larger apertures reveal more texture and brightness variation.
✅ Observe from a dark sky location. Although the nebula has high surface brightness, dark skies enhance contrast and allow you to see its soft outer edges and inner glow more easily.
✅ Use an OIII or UHC filter to increase contrast. A narrowband filter will help darken the background and make the ring structure pop, especially useful in light-polluted conditions or for bringing out faint details.
✅ Try averted vision to enhance subtle features. Looking slightly off-center from the nebula improves your eye’s sensitivity to faint light, helping to reveal the fainter inner haze and outer halo.
✅ Look for the central star in larger telescopes. The white dwarf at the center is difficult to see and requires a steady atmosphere and at least 10–12 inches of aperture under dark skies. Patience and high magnification will help.
✅ Compare it with other planetary nebulae. After observing M57, try comparing it with the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) or the Owl Nebula (M97) to appreciate the variety of forms planetary nebulae can take.
Ring Nebula/M57
❌ Naked Eye
Messier 57, the Ring Nebula, is completely invisible to the naked eye.
⚠️ Binoculars
Barely detectable. In large binoculars under dark skies, M57 may appear as a very faint, slightly fuzzy star. Binoculars are best for finding the general area, not for viewing detail.
✅ Small Telescope
In a small telescope, it appears as a small, faint, oval-shaped smudge—often mistaken for a blurry star unless higher magnification is used, at which point its doughnut-like form begins to emerge.
✅ Medium Telescope
With a medium telescope, the ring shape becomes much clearer and well-defined, showing a bright outer rim and a slightly dimmer central region, though the central star typically remains hidden.
✅ Large Telescope
In a large telescope under dark skies, M57 transforms into a richly textured target, with subtle shading across the ring, a soft inner glow, and sometimes even the elusive central white dwarf becoming visible with careful observation and steady seeing. The nebula’s slightly elliptical shape and crisp edges make it one of the most satisfying planetary nebulae to observe visually.
Ring Nebula/M57
Messier 57, the Ring Nebula in the constellation Lyra, is one of the most iconic planetary nebulae in the sky. Its compact, torus-like structure gives it a distinctive donut or smoke-ring appearance. While M57 has a fairly high surface brightness, the clarity of its ring shape and any finer structure depend heavily on the darkness and contrast of the surrounding sky.
🟣 In Bortle 1–2 skies, the Ring Nebula is crisp, well-defined, and unmistakably ring-shaped. The oval shell glows with a soft, ghostly light, and its central hollow is clearly visible, giving the nebula a three-dimensional, floating appearance. The surrounding star field is rich, helping the nebula stand out in contrast, and under excellent seeing conditions, careful observers might even glimpse the faint central star at the heart of the ring. The entire scene has depth and presence, turning the small object into a showpiece.
🔵 In Bortle 3–4 skies, M57 still holds its ring-like shape, though with slightly softened edges. The central hole remains visible, but the subtle gradations in brightness across the nebula begin to flatten. The surrounding stars are fewer, which slightly reduces the field’s richness. The nebula is still an obvious and satisfying object, but some of the sense of detail and contrast is diminished.
🟢 In Bortle 5–6 skies, the Ring Nebula appears as a small, round patch with a slightly dimmer center, but the hole becomes more difficult to distinguish clearly. The object still looks like a soft, rounded blur, and the iconic ring structure is only hinted at. The surrounding skyglow lowers contrast, and the nebula starts to lose the fine clarity that defines its shape.
🟡 In Bortle 7+ skies, M57 becomes a faint, star-like smudge. Its shape is still detectable as non-stellar, and observers might notice it as slightly oval, but the ring structure is mostly washed out. The central hollow is no longer visible, and the nebula appears as a small, featureless blur against a pale sky. The surrounding star field is sparse, and the Ring’s distinctiveness is largely lost.
Ring Nebula/M57
DSOs within 48° or 2 outstretched hands at arm's length
Ring Nebula/M57 - a glowing smoke ring marking a star’s final breath
Find the Summer Triangle with stars Vega (+0.02), Altair (+0.93), and Deneb (+1.33).
Find the constellation Lyra with Vega and the quadrilateral of four stars. Find the two lower stars of the quadrilateral, Sheliak (+3.51) and Sulafat (+3.25). The Ring Nebula is midway between them.
Using a binocular or telescope finder, point to the Ring Nebula. From the diagram, note that it is roughly midway between Sheliak and Sulafat but closer to Sheliak. If you can spot HR7162 (+5.23) in binoculars or a finder, the Ring Nebula is almost exactly halfway between it and Sheliak. Scan the area using a low-powered eyepiece looking for a 'fuzzy' star. Then explore!
