Telescope: Celestron C9.25 @ f/10, Orion Atlas EQ-G
Camera: QHY 168c, -20C
Filter: Orion Imaging Skyglow Filter
Guide scope: Astro-Tech 60mm, ASI290MM Mini, PHD2
Exposure: 48x240sec saved as FITS
Darks: 32x240sec saved as FITS
Flats: 64x10sec, LED tracing tablet
Average Light Pollution: Red zone, fair transparency
Lensed Sky Quality Meter: 18.6 mag/arc-sec^2
Stacking: Mean with a 2-sigma clip.
White Balance: Nebulosity Automatic
Software: SharpCap Pro, Deep Sky Stacker, Nebulosity, Photoshop
M27, the Dumbbell nebula, is an expanding shell of gas that was ejected from a sun-like star as it exhausted its hydrogen fuel. Swollen into a red giant, the star shed its outer shell while its core collapsed into a white dwarf. Fierce UV radiation from the collapsed core sets the surrounds gas aglow with the blue/green light of doubly ionized oxygen. The diameter of the nebula is about 1 light-year with an estimated age of 9,800 years. Located between Sagitta and Cygnus, M27 is fairly easy to find with a small telescope. Visually, it shows two lobes connected by a neck of nebulosity, giving the nebula its characteristic dumbbell shape.
M27 is currently well placed in the northeast as twilight darkens and is visible for most of the night.
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