| Designation |
Messier 27 (NGC 6853) The Dumbell Nebula
|
| Type | Planetary Nebula |
| Constellation | Vulpecula |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '19 58 22' - Dec ' + 22' 43 03' |
| 53Magnitude | 7.4 |
| Size | 2.5 light years across |
| Distance | 1,200 light years |
| Dimensions | 8 x 5.7 arcminutes |
| Image Field | 15 x 19 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulas. It's intrinisic luminosity if 100 times our sun. It is a gasseous emission nebula formed when the central star (mag 13.5) ran out of nuclear fuel in it's core, collapsed and exploded. This caused the star's outer |
| shell to be expelled into space. The gas and dust that resulted is illuminated by the dying star's intense ultraviolet energy. | |
|
|
The gas cloud is believed to be expanding at a rate of between 1 and 6.8 arcseconds per century, yielding a wide age estimate of between 4,500 and 48,000 years. Hubble is conducting some observations that may help confirm it's age. |
| Telescopes | Meade 10" LX200 f/10 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 |
| Focal Length | 1575 mm @ f/6.3 |
| Guiding | SXV guidehead through Takahashi FS60C @ f/5.9 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V3) |
| CCD Camera |
Starlight
Xpress SXV-H9 - USB 2 ExView progressive scan
1392 x 1040 (6.45 uM)
pixel array (8.98 x 6.71 active area)
|
| Image Scale | .88 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25"
Astronomik Type II Dichroic IR blocking filters in Astronomik filter
drawer - Lum, Red, Green, Blue, Ha
|
| Exposures |
168 minutes total: Lum 45
minutes (9 x 5) unbinned, Red - 20 (5 x 4), Green - 20 minutes
(5 X 4), Blue - 28 minutes (7 x 4) - Ha 60 (12 x 5) HaRGB all
binned 2x - Sigma combined
|
| Calibration | None |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS (8.0) |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 11/07/04 - 00:44 - 04:10 UT |
