Messier 27
After imaging the little dumbbell nebula I couldn’t resist taking a look at the “real” dumbbell nebula, Messier 27, in constellation Vulpecula. Two triangular lobes can be seen in the northeast and southwest which give it its “dumbbell” appearance in smaller scopes. Observing in a larger scope or stretching the brightness a bit, reveals a more circular faint halo farther out.
Image taken from Louisville, CO June 27, 2006 at 0:45 MDT with Celestron Nexstar11, F3.3 focal reducer, and Astrovid Stellacam II video camera. Camera settings: integrate 128, gain 9/14, medium gamma. Images were dark subtracted, flat field and bias corrected with ImagePlus. Aligned and stacked 150 images with Registax3. Brightness enhanced with ImagePlus, cropped with Photoshop Elements. Sky was clear, temperature 55°F, 46% humidity, transparency very good, turbulence 6/10.