Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Perseus (Per)  ·  Contains:  Little Dumbbell  ·  M 76  ·  NGC 650  ·  NGC 651  ·  PK130-10.1
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M76, The Little Dumbell Nebula, Rick Veregin
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M76, The Little Dumbell Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M76, The Little Dumbell Nebula, Rick Veregin
Powered byPixInsight

M76, The Little Dumbell Nebula

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Description

Messier 76 (M76), known as the Little Dumbbell Nebula, the Cork Nebula or the Barbell Nebula, is a bipolar planetary nebula (BPNe). The central star, HD 10346, has a temperature of about 60,000 K, while the nebula itself has a surface temperature of about 88,400 K, emitting most of its visual light in the green, due to doubly ionized oxygen [OIII]. At a distance of 2500 light years, its size is 1.23 light-years. The inner cork part of the nebula is understood to be a torus seen edge on, created from mass ejection from the central star. The mass loss culminates in a superwind in the plane of that torus, which interacts with that accumulated equatorial gas and dust, blowing bubbles in the polar directions.

M76 is relatively faint, so I would have preferred a lot more exposure time, but poor skies have left no time this year to gather more. Hope to have an update next year.

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M76, The Little Dumbell Nebula, Rick Veregin