Wanna surprise your sweetie with a cosmic valentine? You can’t go wrong with this lovely image of the Ring Nebula (Messier 57), as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope. It makes a lovely picture to show off, right after you present your loved one with whatever special surprise you have planned for the holiday.
Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared facility, meaning that it sees wavelengths of light just beyond those we can see with our eyes. The objects that give off infrared light are often dusty and warm, which explains the way the Ring Nebula looks. It’s a planetary nebula, a shell of material ejected from a dying star. The ring is actually a thick cylinder of gas and dust blown off by the dying star early in its death agonies. Radiation from the star heats up the shell of gas, causing it to glow—and that’s what makes the Ring Nebula look so beautiful and ghostly in the infrared.
If you want to look at this ring in greater detail, check here for links to larger, higher-resolution images. It’s an amazing site to behold, and definitely something different to share with your sweetie.