NASA Hubble Image: Ring Nebula

In this composite image, visible-light observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are combined with infrared data from the ground-based Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona to assemble a dramatic view of the well-known Ring Nebula. 

Called a planetary nebula, the Ring Nebula is the glowing remains of a Sun-like star. 

The object is tilted toward Earth so that astronomers see the ring face-on. 

The Hubble observations reveal that the nebula's shape is more complicated than astronomers thought. Image released May 23, 2013.

CREDIT: NASA, ESA, C.R. O'Dell (Vanderbilt University), and D. Thompson (Large Binocular Telescope Observatory)

The iconic Ring Nebula may seem like just a stunning circle of wispy interstellar gas, but new images from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal it to be more like a deep-space jelly doughnut, scientists say.

C. Robert O'Dell

The new Hubble telescope images have allowed astronomers to take their most detailed look at the Ring Nebula than ever before, revealing an unprecedented view of the nebula's three-dimensional structure.

"The nebula is not like a bagel, but rather, it's like a jelly doughnut, because it's filled with material in the middle," study leader C. Robert O'Dell, an astronomer with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., said in a statement today (May 23).