This is the southern ring nebula (NGC 3132) and if you're wondering what does it look like now, you just have to wait only 2500 years to get the answer.
carl sagan in cosmos (1980) // southern ring nebula taken by jwst // jasmine singh on twitter // babylon 5 season 2 episode 4 "a distant star" (1994) // carina nebula taken by jwst // dr. katie mack for science focus
‘THE UNIVERSE AS NOBODY HAS SEEN IT YET’
IMAGES BY NASA, ESA, CSA, AND STSCI
Pictured at top, the “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars are actually the edge of a nearby, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Above, Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is Webb’s largest image to date.
Above, a side-by-side comparison shows the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light.