M27, also known as the Dumbbell Nebula, is believed to be approximately 1,200 light years from earth. Like all planetary nebula, it is the cast-off shell of a dying star. Discovered in 1764 by Charles Messier, it was the first planetary nebula to be discovered, and it is the largest and one of the brightest planetary nebula from our vantage point on earth.

We see the Dumbbell Nebula from near it's equatorial plane. If we were observing it from near one pole, it would appear ring shaped, like the well known Ring Nebula (M57).

This photo was created from frames taken on the nights of August 22, 2007 and September 15, 2007, with a Canon Digital Rebel XT attached to the prime focus of a 200mm f/5 reflector telescope. The exposures were guided with a Meade DSI camera attached to a 80mm f/11 refractor. Guiding was accomplished with PHD Guiding software and the resulting images (42 frames, 2 minutes each) were calibrated, registered and stacked using Iris software. Final color levels and contrast were achieved with Photoshop.