Object

M27 / NGC6583 The Dumbell Nebula

Object Information

Image information

Object Type

Planetary Nebula

Instrument

Meade LX200GPS 14” with focal reducer giving effective FL=1778mm f/5

Constellation

Vulpecula

Guiding

SXV-AO Adaptive Optics

Magnitude

+7.3

Focal Reducer

Optec Nextgen x0.5

Coordinates

RA 19:59.6 Dec +22º 43’

Mount

Meade Lx200GPS Fork Mount

Size

6 arc min

Location

Stoney Hills, S.E England

Distance

1250 Light Years (ish!)

Acquisition Date

16th August 2006

Notes

M27 has the highest apparent brightness of any planetary nebula. It derives its name from its double bright regions, top and bottom in this image, which can resemble the weights on a dumbbell in smaller scopes.

This image shows layers of material ejected from the central star (Mag +14). This material is expanding at tens of kilometres per second. The whole object is growing by between 1 and 7 arc sec per 100 years.

Planetary Nebula do not have anything to do with planets.

M27 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 and was the first object of its type to be found.

Capture Device

Starlight-Xpress SXV-H9 Sony ICX285AL Exview HAD Cooled CCD Array 1392 x 1040 @ 6.45uM / Pixel 

Filter Type

Astronomik Type IIc Ha / OIII

Colour Technique

Narrowband Bicolour

RGB = (Ha, (Ha+OIII)/2), OIII)

FOV

≈65 x 87 arc mins (3.75 arcsec/pixel)

Exposure

110 m Total

Ha (5 x 600 sec bin 1x1)

OIII (6 x 600 sec bin 1x1)

Notes

Image published in Astronomy Now, November 2006

This image used a synthesised green channel derived from the average of the red and blue channels. There are some distortions in this image which seem to have been caused by a problem with the camera and possibly the focal reducer. The image was still published in Astronomy Now.

Processed in Maxim DL - Bias, Darks and Flats applied.