Iron-bar cloud in Ring Nebula offers glimpse of Earth's distant fate

Astronomers have detected a large, bar‑shaped cloud of ionized iron inside the Ring Nebula, about 2,283 light‑years away and roughly 500 times wider than Pluto's orbit. Found with the Weave instrument by Cardiff University and University College London researchers, the iron bar's origin is unclear and theories range from formation during the nebula's creation to debris from a destroyed rocky planet. If confirmed, it could provide a foretaste of the Sun's future when it sheds its outer layers and may engulf Earth in several billion years. Further observations are planned over the next five years to determine its composition and origin.