Two Wolf-Rayet stars are the powerhouses energising the Lion Nebula: WR 152 and WR 153ab (also known as HD 211564 and HD 211853, respectively). Wolf-Rayet stars are high-mass stars near the end of their lives. They’ve shed their outer hydrogen layers, exposing even hotter interiors, typically in the region of 30,000 to an almost unbelievable 200,000 K.

These extremely energetic stars don’t look like much in my picture, but they’re blasting out energy and sending shockwaves into the gas of the Lion Nebula, sculpting intricate shapes and making it glow.

The winds and UV radiation from energetic Wolf-Rayet stars can create “ring nebulae”, which are shells of ionised gas. These can be seen in my image, if you know what you’re looking for.

Below is a ring nebula produced by WR 152. I think it’s a bit easier to see when the image colours are inverted, so use the slider view and maybe it’ll be clearer. You’re looking for a bubble that almost fills the frame, with knots and filaments where fast winds have slammed into slower winds from previous bursts and ambient gas from the nebula.

The ring nebula produced by WR 153ab is a bit different. It’s creating arcs rather than bubbles in the hydrogen that surrounds it. We can see one of these, but it’s edge-on from our perspective. I think it looks a bit like light blasting out from a lighthouse. Again, easier to see in the inverted view, to my eyes at least.