M57 - The Ring Nebula Astrophotography
- Antoine & Dalia Grelin
- Jun 4
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 9
Messier 57, also called the Ring Nebula, is a small planetary nebula located in the constellation Lyra. This is one of the most popular deep sky objects to photograph, but also one of the most difficult to process properly! The nebula looks like a human eye and makes for a great image. Learn more about the astrophotography of this bright but tricky deep-sky object.
Object Designation: M57
Common Name: The Ring Nebula
Constellation: Lyra
Object Type: Planetary Nebula
Distance: 2,570 light-years away
Magnitude: 8.8
Discovered on: January 1779 by Charles Messier
In the northern hemisphere, the best time to observe and photograph the Ring Nebula is in the Summer season.
The Ring Nebula Astrophotography with a Monochrome Camera (RGB-HA)
Several years after my first attempt, I decided to try capturing M57 again but this time with much better gear. I used a full-frame monochrome camera and a refractor telescope to image the nebula from my Las Vegas backyard.
I spent a total of 4 hours shooting in RGB (knowing it would only be for the overall colors of the nebula, and also for the stars) and 8 hours shooting in HA (as I really wanted the expelling HA gas visible this time) for a total of 12 hours integration time.
You can see the result below. This was extremely difficult to process (I actually left it on the side for 3 full years before finally processing it fully in 2026) but the result is pretty good! I like how impressive the nebula looks, especially when compared to my first attempt.
GEAR USED:
Camera: QHY600M
Telescope: Stellarvue SVX130
Mount: 10Micron GM1000 HPS
Guiding: ZWO ASI 290MM Mini
Accessories: Moonlite Nitecrawler focuser / Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox
Processing: Pixinsight, final touches in Lightroom
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 12 hours
Exposure Time per frame: 10 minutes
Filters: Chroma 3nm R/G/B/H
Gain: 56
The Ring Nebula Astrophotography with a DSLR Camera
June 2016
This was my first attempt at M57, and I had two main goals for this nebula:
Ensure the white dwarf is visible
Capture enough data to see internal and external gas
During the editing process, I was happy to notice that I could see the external gas. Unfortunately, the only way to keep it in the photo was to make the core of M57 very bright and kill all the inner details. I decided to sacrifice the external gas and focus on the ring itself.
The Ring Nebula has two obvious colors, which are the result of temperature differences, the internal hot gas is blue while the cold outer gas is red.
Messier 57 is growing at a rate of at least 43,000 miles per hour, about 12 miles per second, it will continue to grow for more than 10,000 years before finally becoming faint enough to merge with the interstellar medium and disappear completely...
GEAR USED:
Camera: Canon T3i
Telescope: 8" Astrograph
Mount: Atlas EQ-G
Processing: Pixinsight
ACQUISITION DETAILS:
Total Exposure Time: 3 hours
Exposure Time per frame: 6 minutes
30 lights - 20 Darks - 20 Bias
ISO: 400
How to Locate the Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula lies just 2,283 light-years away from Earth, just south of the very bright star Vega, in the constellation of Lyra.
Messier 57 is very easy to find because it is located almost exactly in between the two bottom stars of Lyra, Sheliak, and Sulafat. Simply start from one of those two and make your way to the other in a straight line. You will spot your target just a little closer to Sheliak than in the center.
Because of its tiny size, M57 cannot be seen with the naked eye or even binoculars. An 8”+ telescope will reveal the gases forming the ring, and you may also see the inner part of the nebula. You might get surprised by the ring’s brightness when looking at it through a telescope, it may be tiny, but it is a wonderful object to stare at!
M57 rises high during the Summer months, so the best time to capture it is around June, July, August and September.
M57 Nebula Information
Messier 57 is a planetary nebula that is very popular among amateur astronomers and astrophotographers. It is very small, but also very bright and looks nice both visually and in photos. It stays high in the sky for a long period of time during the Summer season, so you have plenty of time to enjoy it.
The Ring Nebula looks like a simple ring through telescopes, but it's actually much more complex. Scientists believe it has the shape of a barrel or stretched sphere viewed nearly end-on from Earth.
Messier 57 by NASA
The Ring Nebula was captured by NASA several times. My two favorite images of this object are from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Ring Nebula by the Hubble Space Telescope
The HST took pictures of the Ring Nebula in October of 1998, and released this beautiful final image on January 6, 1999.
This was at the time the most detailed image ever taken of M57. The shot shows knots, filaments, and layers of gas within the nebula.
The Ring Nebula by the James Webb Space Telescope
The JWST captured M57 mostly on July 4, 2022 doing NIRCam observations.
The pictures were released on August 3, 2023. This was such an impressive image to see for the first time, because it shows the nebula through a different set of filters, with details we had never seen before.
How the Ring Nebula was Formed
M57 was created when a dying Sun-like star expelled its outer layers into space. As the hot stellar core became exposed, intense ultraviolet radiation caused the surrounding gas to glow. This process created the beautiful planetary nebula we see today and kinda gives us a glimpse into what may happen to our own Sun in about 5 billion years.
At the center of M57 is a white dwarf star, which is the remnant core of the original star that created the nebula. It is incredibly hot, with a surface temperature exceeding 100,000°C. It is difficult to see visually, but the central star can be captured in astrophotography and can be seen in both of the shots higher in this post.
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The Outer Halo
Most beginner astrophotographers focus on the bright ring itself, which is what I did on my first attempt. But when you gain more skills, you'll likely want to tackle the full extent of the nebula.
The outer gasses, seen expelling from the ring, are very impressive and full of HA. They're also an absolute pain in the butt to process without messing up the center of the nebula. You'll need to do long, deep exposures if you want to reveal that faint gas.
Cool Facts About the Ring Nebula
One of the smallest Messier objects
Growing at a rate of 43,000+ mph
Will faint away in 10,000 years
Processing of M57
Processing the Ring Nebula was, to put it simply, hard as hell. It is definitely in my Top 3 of hardest targets I had to process since starting this hobby more than 10 years ago. The image can be ruined if one step is not done properly, so it takes a lot of trial and error to get a result you'll like.
Assuming you want to reveal the faint halo, you'll need to make sure that you mask out the center of the nebula whenever you bring out the light from the outer gasses. You'll also need to play with different layers which you'll re-assemble later into one image (for example, the stars, the nebula itself in RGB for the center, and the outer halo itself).
Learn how to process your data with our PixInsight processing guides
If you do not feel the need to bring out that fainter outer gas, you'll have a much easier time! The good thing about M57 being so tiny is that if you make some mistakes on the nebula itself that are not obvious to the eye, the final image will look completely fine.
On the right you can see one of our ruined images, as the nebula is filled with tiny black pixels, that became apparent after the HDR Multiscale Transform step.
Yet if you keep the full frame uncropped, those issues might not be visible.
Of course, if you are trying to get something as clean as possible, like me on my 2026 attempt, you might as well start over if you notice issues like that. You should also make several duplicates of your main file as you work through your workflow.
Galactic Hunter Episode 2 - The Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula was the winner of our very first vote! Therefore, Episode 2 of Galactic Hunter was all about the Ring :)
Discover how we captured this small target below.
The Size of Messier 57
The Ring Nebula is one of the smallest objects in the sky that are not too difficult to capture for beginner astrophotographers. Below is a size comparison between M57 and M42, the famous Orion Nebula.
Final Thoughts
The Ring Nebula may be a very small, and not-so-impressive target, but it is a great Messier object to photograph! You really need to spend several hours on the imaging, and really try your best during the processing, as we had a lot of trouble to not ruin our image.
Clear Skies,
Galactic Hunter
Description: Discover 60 Deep Sky Objects that will considerably improve your Imaging and Processing skills! Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced astrophotographer, this detailed book of the best deep-sky objects will serve as a personal guide for years to come! Discover which star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies are the easiest and most impressive to photograph for each season. Learn how to find each object in the night sky, and read our recommendations on imaging them in a quick and comprehensive way. Each target in this guide contains our advice on imaging, photos of expected results, and a useful information table. We've also included a few cool facts about each target, a map to find it in the night sky, and more!
