This image of the Southern Ring Nebula was one of the first images presented to the world by the James Webb Space Telescope in 2022. The Southern Ring Nebula, officially known as NGC 3132, is 2500 light-years from Earth and consists of clouds of gas and dust surrounding a star nearing the end of its life.

Webb's high-resolution infrared vision allows him to peer through the dust and examine the shimmering details within the nebula. Such observations help astronomers better understand the life cycles of stars in our galaxy, and Webb's discoveries are just beginning.

Image description:

Captured by the Webb telescope's NIRCam instrument, this planetary nebula is seen against the dark background of space, with starlight shining behind it. The nebula has an irregular oval shape with lacy reddish-orange clouds of gas and dust. Further inside the circle, the gas and dust glow bright blue. A glowing white ring separates the red and blue gas. At the centre of these rings are two stars, one much brighter than the other, with diffraction spikes radiating out.

Does it look like lace to you?