 Here we are zooming into the southern ring planetary nebula, 2,000 light-years away. A planetary nebula is the remains of a star like our sun after it has run out of hydrogen fuel for fusion. This side-by-side comparison shows Webb's observations in near-infrared light on the left and mid-infrared light on the right. The southern ring has a binary star system at its center. One is a white dwarf. The brighter star in both images has not yet run out of fuel. It closely orbits the dimmer white dwarf, impacting the distribution of the ejected material. Over thousands of years on its path to becoming a white dwarf, the dim star periodically ejected mass that now forms the visible shells of material. In cyclic fashion, it contracted, heated up, and pulsed, spewing stellar material in all directions, creating this beautiful landscape. This is not only a crisp image of a planetary nebula, it also shows us objects in the vast distance of space behind it. The transparent red sections of the planetary nebula and all the areas outside are filled with distant galaxies. Inspirals of many shapes and colors also dot the scene. Those that are furthest away or those that are dusty are small and red. Note the bright angled line at the upper left. It's a far away galaxy seen edge on.