The Dumbell Nebula aka M27 was the first planetary nebula seen by human eyes, discovered by Charles Messsier in 1764.
John Herscel later named it the Dumbbell Nebula.
The central teal colour arises from the emission lines of doubly ionized oxygen. These emission lines can only occur in a low-density environment like a planetary nebula. It is approximately 1200 light-years away. At this distance, our sun would appear 100 times fainter than the nebula.
It’s also notable because of the star that remains at its centre: it’s the largest-known white dwarf star. Over a period of thousand years, the Dumbbell nebula will gradually disperse somewhere into space, and then the white dwarf will cool and fade away for billions of years......
Imaged from: London UK
Date: 08/06/2015
Altair Astro RC 250TT – with focal reducer
Ioptron CEM 60 mount
QHYS CCD
Chroma Technology Filters
Luminance 6 x 300seconds
Red 6 x 300seconds
Green 6 x 300seconds
Blue 6 x 300seconds
Chroma 3nm Ha 1 x 300seconds