M27 - The Dumbell Nebula

Description: The Dumbell Nebula is a fairly large and well-known planetary nebula. It was formed when a fairly average star reached the end of its life and threw its outer atmosphere off into space. The shape of the nebula, which gives it its name, is called a bipolar outflow.

Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 40 x 15s white light images. Due to bright moonlight, a ramping effect present on the original has been removed by subtracting a blurred version of the original image. Image taken 28/06/2006.

Description: Another image of the Dumbell, taken under slightly poorer seeing conditions. The 'spiders' are caused by camera defects.

Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 60 x 10s white light images. The image has undergone deconvolution in AIP4Win (Richardson-Lucy filter, 10 iteratures, r=2.6pix). Image taken 07/06/2008.

Physical information: Magnitude: 7.4, size: 8.0'x5.7', a.k.a: NGC6853.

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