A piece of iron previously hidden inside the Ring Nebula, one of the most famous stellar remnants in the night sky, has been found. The structure was first described in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical SocietyIt extends across the interior of the nebula at a distance about 500 times greater than Pluto’s orbit around the Sun and contains an amount of iron comparable to the mass of Mars. Despite decades of careful study, it has gone completely unnoticed.
The iron appears as a narrow band embedded within the nebula’s inner region, separate from the glowing ring of gas that gives the object its name. Its size and position suggest that the ring nebula, often treated as a textbook example of a dying star, still harbors unexplained features.
“As we processed the data and scrolled through the images, one thing emerged as clear as anything else — this previously unknown ‘ribbon’ of ionized iron atoms, in the middle of the familiar, iconic ring,” lead author Roger Wesson said in his article. press release.
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Detection of the iron rod inside the ring nebula
Illustrations of 8 individual images of the WEAVE LIFU emission line of the Ring Nebula.
(Image credit: Roger Wesson et al/MNRAS)
The Ring Nebula formed about 4,000 years ago when a sun-like star ran out of fuel and expelled its outer layers into space. The star’s exposed core now shines as a white dwarf, illuminating the surrounding gas and creating the nebula’s distinctive shape.
What allowed the discovery of the iron structure was not a clearer image, but a new way of analyzing the nebula’s light. Instead of sampling small areas, astronomers took detailed measurements of light across the entire nebula at once. This approach made it possible to map the locations of specific elements, rather than just seeing the common glow of the gas.
Because iron does not strongly affect the nebula’s visual appearance, the structure may not have been observed in previous observations, even those taken with powerful space telescopes.
Iron shows evidence about stellar death
The origin of the iron rod remains uncertain, and its existence raises several possibilities. One explanation is that the structure keeps a record of how material was expelled as the star died, revealing an uneven or directional outward flow that current models don’t fully capture.
Another possibility is that the iron could be the remains of a rocky planet that wandered very close as the star expanded late in its life. Extreme heat and radiation may have torn apart the planet, leaving behind a mineral-rich cloud trapped inside the nebula. If so, this structure would provide a window into what happens to planetary systems when their stars reach the end of their lives.
At this stage, astronomers cannot yet distinguish between these scenarios. The iron was discovered largely on its own, with no clear evidence of other elements mixed in, information that would help reveal whether the material came from stellar debris or planetary debris.
What astronomers hope to learn next
Follow-up observations are scheduled to examine the iron structure in more detail, including whether other elements are present and how the material is moving. These clues could help determine how the structure formed and whether it behaves differently from the rest of the nebula.
The discovery also raises the question of whether the ring nebula is unusual or whether similar structures have gone unnoticed elsewhere. As astronomers apply the same techniques to more planetary nebulae, it may turn out that the iron bar is not so unique.
“It would be very surprising if the iron rod in the ring were unique,” Wesson said. “So hopefully, as we observe and analyze more nebulae created in the same way, we will discover more examples of this phenomenon, which will help us understand where the iron comes from.”
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