NGC 3132, also known as the Southern Ring Nebula, Eight-Burst Nebula, or Caldwell 74 is a striking planetary nebula located about 2,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Vela.
What you’re seeing is the glowing, expanding shell of gas ejected by a dying Sun-like star, now a white dwarf at its core. The nebula spans roughly 0.4 light-years across, yet appears just 1 arcminute wide in the sky — about 1/30th the width of the full Moon.
Despite its compact appearance, a considerable amount of detail can be revealed in long-exposure imaging.
In this image, the bright teal-blue core is rich in ionized oxygen (OIII), while the outer reddish arcs trace hydrogen-alpha emission (Hα). Faint dust lanes and overlapping shells show the chaotic beauty of this stellar farewell.
Recent JWST observations revealed that NGC 3132 is actually a binary star system, with a hidden second star playing a major role in shaping the nebula’s complex form over thousands of years.
Imaged in HOO RGB on my Planewave CDK 700 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby