The Dumbbell nebula imaged by Astronomy Section members
Astronomy Section members were outside recently taking some images of the night sky.
The Dumbbell Nebula, or Messier 27 is in the Constellation of Vulpecula. This exquisite nebula was discovered by the French astronomer, Charles Messier in 1764.
Its official description is a planetary nebula and was the first of its kind to be discovered. Although, the term “planetary nebula” is a bit of a misnomer based on the nebula’s round, planet-like appearance when viewed through the small telescopes available in the 1700’s.
The nebula is the result of an old star that has gracefully shed its outer layers in a splendid display of colour. The dying star then becomes a white dwarf. This is what will eventually happen to our Sun when it runs out of nuclear fuel in about 5 billion years.
The image is in the natural colours of the visible spectrum where the blues and reds indicate glowing gasses such as oxygen and hydrogen.
The nebula is about 1,440 light years across and 1,360 light years from Earth. In our galaxy there are about 3,500 known planetary nebula. They are short lived (astronomically speaking), lingering for a few thousand to tens of thousands of years before eventually dissipating into space.
The field of view is about the size of a Full Moon. The image is a combination of 23 x 20 minute long exposures, representing about 7 ½ hours in total.
