A bright cloud from a dying star, shaped like a dumbbell.
Also called: M27.
First planetary nebula ever identified (1764 by Charles Messier), apple-core/dumbbell shaped.
Planetary nebula: The shell a dying Sun-like star puffs off. Nothing to do with planets. Every kind of thing there is →
Look in the constellation Vulpecula.
Better placed from the Northern Hemisphere.
Star-hop: A rewarding, straightforward target from a reasonably dark sky.
Finding it: Just south of Cygnus's tail.
The Planetarium works out where it actually is from your own place and the date — including whether it is above the horizon at all tonight.
A small, round, faintly coloured puff around a tiny central star.
Honest, not glamorous — why the pictures here are drawn.
On the 100-meter-track scale model of the Milky Way, the Dumbbell Nebula would be about 1.4 meters from the Sun. Light takes 1 thousand years to get here from the Dumbbell Nebula, so what you are looking at is the Dumbbell Nebula as it was 1 thousand years ago.
| Distance from us | 1,400 light-years |
|---|
Nobody flew a tape measure out there. Every number on this page was worked out from the ground:
The Helix Nebulaplanetary nebulaWith effortThe Ring Nebulaplanetary nebulaSmall telescope
The Milky Wayspiral galaxyNaked eye
Proxima CentauristarWith effortAlpha Centauri A & Bbinary star systemNaked eyeSiriusstarNaked eyeClear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.