Post by glactus on Jun 4, 2011 3:35:45 GMT
The Dumbbell nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula in the constellation of Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light years. This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered; by Charles Messier in 1764. At its brightness of visual magnitude 7.5 and its diameter of about 8 arcminutes, it is easily visible in binoculars, and a popular observing target in amateur telescopes
Dumbbell in color
Like many nearby planetary nebulae, the Dumbbell contains knots. Its central region is marked by a pattern of dark and bright cusped knots and their associated dark tails The knots vary in appearance from symmetric objects with tails to rather irregular tail-less objects. Similarly to the Helix Nebula and the Eskimo Nebula, the heads of the knots have bright cusps which are local photoionization fronts.
Dumbbell
Credits: These are NASA/Hubble images
Text by Wikipedia