SAS Astronomy Picture of the Month [October, 2023]
M27 - Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
A nice image taken by John Maher using his Unistellar EVscope. This scope is pricey, but has a lot of advantages for people who don’t want to get their hands too dirty, but would like a “smart” telescope that gets them images quickly and easily. Here’s a pretty balanced review from cloudy nights. Someone has a whole gallery dedicated to images taken through this scope.
M27, or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula located at an approximate distance of 1,360 light-years from Earth in the constellation Vulpecula. It spans about 8 arc minutes in apparent size, which is roughly equivalent to 2.5 light-years across. This beautiful object is the result of a dying star’s evolution, characterized by its bipolar structure and composed primarily of ionized hydrogen and helium, with a central white dwarf illuminating the surrounding gas through ultraviolet radiation.
Photo by John Maher