M27 Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula

M27 is a bright, 7.5 magnitude planetary nebula 1360 light years from the Sun and easily detectable with binoculars and small telescopes. It is the type of planetary nebula that our Sun is predicted to produce in about 6 billion years when nuclear fusion ceases and the central mass contracts into an X-ray-emitting central white dwarf. In M27, lighter outer gas layers rich in hydrogen (red) and oxygen (blue) are being expelled outward at 31 km/s forming most of the hot, photon-emitting gas that is detected in this astrophotograph taken with red, green, blue and narrow band OIII filters. It is estimated to have started to form less than 14,600 years ago, and is 2 by 3 light years in size.

• Location/Date: Gainesville FL, September 29-30, 2021
• Telescope: Astro-Tech 10" Ritchey Chretien with Astro-Tech AT2FF 2" Field Flattener
• Focuser: Moonlite CSL focuser and Hi Res Stepper Motor/Pegasus controller
• Camera/Filters: QHY268M with QHYCFW3M filter wheel / Astrodon LRGB filters and Chroma OIII filter (5nm)
• Guider: QHY off axis guider M; QHY-5L-II-M guide camera
• Mount: Astro-Physics 1100GTO
• Image Acquisition/Guiding Software: N.I.N.A./PHD2
• Image Processing: PixInsight 1.8.8-9; Photoshop CS6
• Captures: 200s subframes (2x2); LRGB and OIII 10 to 11 each