The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula, located in the constellation Velpecula and is located some 1000 light years distant from Earth. One of the largest and brightest planetary nebulae, the Dumbbell is visible with binoculars. Scientists believe our own Sun will one day end up looking a lot like this nebula, once nuclear fusion in the core of the Sun stops.

This image was captured using a Celestron C-11 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and QHY-8 cooled CCD camera, and consists of a digital "stack" of about 15 8-minute exposures taken from the very dark skies of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City's Dark Sky Site located west of Butler, MO.