[1] The green ring is made of tiny particles of warm dust whose composition is very similar to smog.

The bright star in the middle of the red cloud, called HD 278942, is so luminous that it is likely what is causing most of the surrounding ring to glow.

In fact its powerful stellar winds are what cleared out the surrounding warm dust and created the ring-shaped feature in the first place.

The "wreath" is slightly off this band, near the boundary between the constellations of Perseus and Taurus, but at a relatively close distance of only about 1,000 light-years, the cloud is a still part of our Milky Way.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.