Skip to comments.
Astronomy Picture of the Day -- M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
NASA ^
| September 14, 2014
| (see photo credit)
Posted on 09/13/2014 9:28:43 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: The first hint of what will become of our Sun was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, the type of nebula our Sun will produce when nuclear fusion stops in its core. M27 is one of the brightest planetary nebulae on the sky, and can be seen toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula) with binoculars. It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, shown above in colors emitted by hydrogen and oxygen. Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science. Even today, many things remain mysterious about bipolar planetary nebula like M27, including the physical mechanism that expels a low-mass star's gaseous outer-envelope, leaving an X-ray hot white dwarf.
![September 14, 2014](http://129.164.179.22/apod/image/1409/m27_snyder_960.jpg)
(Excerpt) Read more at 129.164.179.22 ...
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; charlesmessier; dumbbellnebula; foxconstellation; m27; messierobject; messierobjects; nebula; science; vulpecula
[Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (Bill Snyder Photography)]
1
posted on
09/13/2014 9:28:43 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
To: brytlea; cripplecreek; decimon; bigheadfred; KoRn; Grammy; steelyourfaith; Mmogamer; dayglored; ...
Ooooh, both a Messier object *and* a nebula!
The Big One
2
posted on
09/13/2014 9:30:00 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
That’s awesome, at first I was afraid it would look like Biden.
3
posted on
09/13/2014 9:30:21 PM PDT
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: SunkenCiv
Not to be confused with a Nebulous Dumbell.
4
posted on
09/13/2014 9:35:03 PM PDT
by
shibumi
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire.)
To: Mastador1
Great minds and all that, eh?
5
posted on
09/13/2014 9:35:49 PM PDT
by
shibumi
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire.)
To: shibumi
I always worry they will put up a picture of a black hole.
6
posted on
09/13/2014 9:40:15 PM PDT
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: Mastador1
You've left me with what you might call "interpretive options" by using that term.
(But if I dood it I det a whoopin'!)
7
posted on
09/13/2014 9:49:31 PM PDT
by
shibumi
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire.)
To: shibumi
8
posted on
09/13/2014 9:56:31 PM PDT
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: Mastador1
That’s degrading to black holes.
9
posted on
09/13/2014 10:00:23 PM PDT
by
wastedyears
(Aldnoah.Zero - Best new anime of 2014.)
To: wastedyears
There’s outer space and then there’s wasted space, usually terrestrial.
10
posted on
09/13/2014 10:12:04 PM PDT
by
Mastador1
(I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
To: Mastador1
He has enough space alone to fill the void between us and our closest neighbor.
11
posted on
09/13/2014 10:47:58 PM PDT
by
wastedyears
(Aldnoah.Zero - Best new anime of 2014.)
To: shibumi
Kind of the same general shape.
12
posted on
09/14/2014 2:04:19 AM PDT
by
Boiler Plate
("Why be difficult, when with just a little more work, you can be impossible" Mom)
To: shibumi; Mastador1
You can see hidden detail using "Duh-alpha" filtering:
13
posted on
09/14/2014 2:14:40 PM PDT
by
mikrofon
(Moran Object M-2)
To: mikrofon; Mastador1
14
posted on
09/14/2014 4:07:45 PM PDT
by
shibumi
(Cover it with gas and set it on fire.)
To: SunkenCiv
Looked this up in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Astronomy, 1977. ( IIRC, I bought this at the Atlantic Bookshop on the boardwalk at Ocean City NJ, probably in the 80's . )
Here's an illustration from pg. 293 ( 4" X 4" on the page. ) Note the credit.
![](http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn305/dr_lew/dumbbell_zps972118ea.jpg)
I was having trouble matching this up for two reasons. The image is reversed in the book, and represents only the core of the nebula, so the stars seen are not the bright ones in the APOD. Here is an overlay with most of the stars matching up very well:
![](http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn305/dr_lew/m27_snyder_2150_ovly_zpsdcc86138.jpg)
Oh, brave new world!
15
posted on
09/14/2014 4:34:27 PM PDT
by
dr_lew
To: dr_lew
16
posted on
09/14/2014 10:01:11 PM PDT
by
SunkenCiv
(https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
To: SunkenCiv
Thanks! I always look forward to that :-)
17
posted on
09/14/2014 10:09:45 PM PDT
by
dr_lew
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson