Tähtitieteellinen yhdistys Ursa

Syvä taivas

The Mystery of M57

During the Sagittarius Star Party held in Öland, southern Sweden, some Finnish amateurs noticed - for the first time in the world - a starlike dot inside M57's ring. The night after discovery it still was there and remained unmoved. So the chances were the object was really inside the ring.

In the next couple of years the dot was insistently in its location and looked exactly the same. You can try to see this feature yourself by using telescope of any size and high magnification. Try using averted vision and try to spot a stellar pinpoint jumping on and off. If you manage to do this you've succeeded. Make your observation during good seeing.

The photo attached here was taken by Arto Oksanen using the 2.5-meter telescope at the NOT observatory of La Palma, Canary Islands. An xtremely short exposure was used not to overexpose the inner details of the ring. You can use this photo as a finder chart in your quest to see this extremely difficult object. The object is located in the middle of left side of the ring.

Text: © Riku Henriksson, edited by Toni Veikkolainen.

RSS Zeniitti

RSS Taivaanvahti

  • Syvä avaruus NGC 2264 II 7.1.2026 klo 22.04 - 8.1.2026 klo 3.54, Rautalampi, Vesa Vauhkonen
  • Syvä avaruus IC 1396 II 4.1.2026 klo 18.15-22.30, Rautalampi, Vesa Vauhkonen
  • Syvä avaruus NGC7380 III 31.12.2025 klo 22.00-23.30, Vantaa, Leo Wikholm
  • Syvä avaruus NGC457 III 31.12.2025 klo 21.00-21.45, Vantaa, Leo Wikholm
  • Syvä avaruus IC 1396 I 31.12.2025 klo 18.19-20.53, Petäjävesi, Tapio Lahtinen
  • Syvä avaruus NGC 7380, Sh2-142 Wizard Nebula I 30.12.2025 klo 22.00 - 31.12.2025 klo 7.00, Pori, Jarkko Suominen
  • Syvä avaruus NGC 2237 III 30.12.2025 klo 21.00-22.20, Janakkala, Petri Kuossari

RSS Avaruus.fi-foorumi