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January 15, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Astronomers Spot Mysterious Bar-Shaped Cloud of Iron Inside an Iconic Nebula<\/p>\n A distinctive nebula inside the constellation Lyra holds a never-before-seen cloud of iron atoms\u2014and researchers aren\u2019t sure why<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Roger Wesson et al \/ MNRAS<\/p>\n The Ring Nebula is a sight to behold. Located in the constellation Lyra, this kaleidoscopic doughnut of gas is the dying echo of a star not too unlike our sun. And according to a new study, it also hosts a never-before-seen, massive cloud of iron atoms. Astronomers aren\u2019t sure why.<\/p>\n The cloud, which is in the shape of a bar, has slightly more mass than Mars. Astronomers spotted it using the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in Spain using an optical spectrometer called the WHT Enhanced Area Velocity Explorer (WEAVE). The findings are detailed in a new paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we processed the data and scrolled through the images, one thing popped out as clear as anything\u2014this previously unknown bar of ionized iron atoms, in the middle of the familiar and iconic ring,\u201d said Roger Wesson, an astronomer at Cardiff University in Wales and lead author of the new paper, in a statement.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n How the bar got there is a mystery. The bar is located somewhere in the middle of the nebula and is about as long as 500 times Pluto\u2019s orbit around the sun. It\u2019s possible that the bar could tell scientists more about how the nebula formed. The researchers plan to conduct a follow-up study with WEAVE to try and answer some of these questions.<\/p>\n Astronomers don\u2019t know why it exists, but it likely is not the only one of its kind. \u201cIt would be very surprising if the iron bar in the Ring is unique,\u201d Wesson said in the same statement. \u201cSo 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 to understand where the iron comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 15, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Astronomers Spot Mysterious Bar-Shaped Cloud of Iron Inside an Iconic Nebula A distinctive nebula inside the constellation Lyra holds a never-before-seen cloud of iron atoms\u2014and researchers aren\u2019t sure why By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Roger Wesson et al \/ MNRAS The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[4341,22215,3646,8319,2821,379,22216,2877],"class_list":{"0":"post-41885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-astronomers","9":"tag-barshaped","10":"tag-cloud","11":"tag-iconic","12":"tag-iron","13":"tag-mysterious","14":"tag-nebula","15":"tag-spot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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