Ring Nebula (M57) Observation Details

M57 Daily Motion
M57 will be visible until November, 19, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M57 Visibility Timetable on August 29
M57 Rise and Set Timetable
Time | Elevation | |
Moon Rise, 24.2% illuminated | 10:34 | -53° |
M57 rise | 15:25 | |
Sunset | 19:03 | 43° |
Civil sunset | 19:25 | 47° |
Astrosession begin | 20:14 | 53° |
M57 transit | 21:24 | 57° |
Moon Set | 22:55 | 51° |
M57 set | 03:23 | |
Astrosession end | 05:48 | -30° |
Track M57 Position Throughout the Night
← Fri, 29 August 2025 →
Time | |
Altitude | |
Azimuth |
Where is M57 right now?
M57 is located in the constellation Lyra, at right ascension 18h 53m 35s" and declination 33° 01' 42s. At the current time, it is above the horizon at an altitude of 21 degrees toward the northeast from your location, with an apparent magnitude of 8.80.M57 - Ring Nebula
The Ring Nebula (M57) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Lyra. It was discovered by Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in 1779 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M57 is one of the most famous planetary nebulae in the sky.
M57 spans about 1 light-year across and contains a central white dwarf star surrounded by a shell of ionized gas. The nebula is approximately 2,300 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.8, making it visible with a small telescope.
Finder Chart for M57
Object name | M57 |
Field of view | |
Limiting magnitude | |
M57 coordinates | 18.89306, 33.02858 |
Center coordinates | 18.89306, 33.02858 |
M57 Passage Through Night
Current position of M57
Time | 01:40 |
Latitude | 0 |
Longitude | 0 |
M57 elevation | 21° |
M57 Azimuth | 54° |
Annual motion of M57
Date | Sat, 30 August 2025 |
Twighlight start | 20:10 |
Twighlight end | 05:43 |
Twighlight duration | 10h 33m |
Rise | 15:21 |
Set | 03:19 |
Elevation at transit | 57° |
Transit time | 21:20 |
Equatorial coordinates | RA: 18h 53m 35s", Dec: 33° 01' 42s |
Magnitude | 9 |
Constellation | Lyra |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M57 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Astrometric & Physical Parameters of M57
Coordinates & Visibility
Right Ascension | 18.89306° |
Declination | 33.02858° |
Magnitude | 8.80 |
Constellation | Lyra |
Elevation | 21.4° |
Azimuth | 54.2° |
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.