Which dying star's nebula was imaged by JWST in its first release?

JWST’s first official image release included the Southern Ring Nebula, the remains of a dying star.

Also called NGC 3132 or the Eight-Burst Nebula, the Southern Ring is a planetary nebula in the constellation Vela. It formed when a low- to intermediate-mass star shed its outer layers near the end of its life. The exposed stellar remnant continues to illuminate that expanding shell of gas and dust.

Webb’s first release on 12 July 2022 showed the object in striking infrared detail. Its instruments revealed structures and dusty regions that are difficult to see in visible-light images, including the influence of the nebula’s central stars and its uneven, layered shape.

The name can cause confusion: this is not the Ring Nebula, which is the separate planetary nebula M57 in Lyra. “Planetary nebula” is also a historical label; these objects have nothing to do with planets.