Editing Ring Nebula (section)

===Central star===
The central star was discovered by Hungarian astronomer Jenő Gothard on September 1, 1886, from images taken at his observatory in Herény, near [[Szombathely]]. Within the last two thousand years, the central star of the Ring Nebula has left the [[asymptotic giant branch]] after exhausting its supply of [[hydrogen]] fuel. Thus it no longer produces its energy through [[nuclear fusion]] and, in [[stellar evolution|evolutionary]] terms, it is now becoming a compact [[white dwarf]] star.

The central star now consists primarily of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]] with a thin outer envelope composed of lighter elements. Its mass is about {{Solar mass|0.61–0.62}}, with a surface temperature of {{val|fmt=commas|125,000|5,000|ul=K}}. Currently it is 200 times more luminous than the [[Sun]], but its [[apparent magnitude]] is only +15.75.<ref name=apj134>
{{cite journal
 | last=O'Dell | first=C. R.
 |author2=Sabbadin, F. |author3=Henney, W. J.
  | date=2007
 | title=The Three-Dimensional Ionization Structure and Evolution of NGC 6720, The Ring Nebula
 | journal=[[Astronomical Journal]]
 | volume=134 | issue=4 | pages=1679–1692
 | bibcode=2007AJ....134.1679O
 | doi=10.1086/521823
| doi-access=free| url=https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/99251/files/fulltext.pdf| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220232803/https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/99251/files/fulltext.pdf| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 20, 2024}}</ref>

In 2025 [[James Webb Space Telescope|JWST]] observed a dust disk around the central star.<ref>{{cite arXiv |eprint=2504.01188 |last1=Sahai |first1=Raghvendra |author2=Griet Van de Steene |author3=Peter van Hoof |last4=Zijlstra |first4=Albert |last5=Volk |first5=Kevin |last6=Dinerstein |first6=Harriet L. |last7=Barlow |first7=Michael J. |last8=Peeters |first8=Els |last9=Manchado |first9=Arturo |last10=Matsuura |first10=Mikako |last11=Cami |first11=Jan |last12=Cox |first12=Nick L. J. |last13=Aleman |first13=Isabel |last14=Bernard-Salas |first14=Jeronimo |last15=Clark |first15=Nicholas |last16=Justtanont |first16=Kay |last17=Kaplan |first17=Kyle F. |last18=Kavanagh |first18=Patrick J. |last19=Wesson |first19=Roger |title=JWST observations of the Ring Nebula (NGC 6720): III. A dusty disk around its Central Star |date=2025 |class=astro-ph.SR }}</ref>