Messier 27 – the Dumbbell Nebula – is a planetary nebula located 1,200 light years distant in the constellation of Vulpecula. It was first discovered by Charles Messier on 12 July 1764. According to O’Meara (The Messier Objects – 2nd Edition; 2014), “The gaseous material was blown from the blue dwarf star now at its center during one of the star’s death throes some 48,000 years ago (which makes M27 more than twice as old as typical planetaries)”.
This is data gathered from my home observatory in the UK back between 31 August and 15 October 2017. I have processed this before -
M27 (The Dumbbell Nebula) in Bicolour. However, I think in my eagerness to bring out the outer shell, I lost quite a bit in the core. I saw the image again recently, and thought I should make another attempt at it. This is:
Ha: 19 x 1200s
OIII: 18 x 1200s
A total of 12.3 hours exposure.
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