deep-sky

nebula (planetary)

August 12, 2012

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M76 – Little Dumbbell Nebula

The Little Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula which, unlike its larger “brother” M27 in Vulpecula, is much fainter.
In fact it is one of the fainter objects in the Messier catalog.

M76 can be found in the constellation Perseus.
Although discovered in 1780, It took until 1918 unil it was first recognised as being a planetary nebula.
The nebula is now classed as a bipolar planetary nebula (BPNe).

Other / older versions :

Image information:

Name: M76 – The Little Dumbbell Nebula
Type: Nebula (planetary)
Constellation: Perseus
Distance: 2500 ly

Date: August 12, 2012
Location: Landgraaf, The Netherlands

Total integration: 4h
Camera: SBIG ST-8300M
Optics: Orion Optics SPX 10″ Newton
Mount: Losmandy G-11 Gemini

Some strange artefacts (flares) at the top of brighter stars.
Maybe a bad light frame somewhere in the data that slipped through.

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