Nebulae
Messier 27 Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
M27 was the first planetary nebula to be discovered, by Charles Messier in 1764. Named because of its visual appearance, it is actually a complex set of gaseous shells thrown off by a Sun-like star, near the end of its main sequence life. The remaining white dwarf can be seen right at the centre of the nebula in this image.
M27 is around 1360 lightyears distant and 3 lightyears across. It is estimated to be only around 10,000 years in age.
The image consists of 2h (120x1min) of LRGB and 1h (12x5min) of narrowband (Ha and OIII) data, captured over two evenings in August 2021.
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera though an 8-inch Teleskop-Service Ritchey-Chretien reflector.
Date: 24/08/2021
Location: Horsham, West Sussex
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
