Astronomy Picture of the Day -- M27: The Dumbbell Nebula

NASA ^ | September 14, 2014 | (see photo credit)

[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.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit & Copyright: Bill Snyder (Bill Snyder Photography)]

[SunkenCiv]

Ooooh, both a Messier object *and* a nebula!

The Big One

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[Mastador1]

That’s awesome, at first I was afraid it would look like Biden.

[shibumi]

Not to be confused with a Nebulous Dumbell.

[shibumi]

Great minds and all that, eh?

[Mastador1]

I always worry they will put up a picture of a black hole.

[shibumi]

You've left me with what you might call "interpretive options" by using that term.

(But if I dood it I det a whoopin'!)

[Mastador1]

See what I mean?

[wastedyears]

That’s degrading to black holes.

[Mastador1]

There’s outer space and then there’s wasted space, usually terrestrial.

[wastedyears]

He has enough space alone to fill the void between us and our closest neighbor.

[Boiler Plate]

Kind of the same general shape.

[mikrofon]

You can see hidden detail using "Duh-alpha" filtering:

[shibumi]

Most disturbing.

[dr_lew]

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.

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:

Oh, brave new world!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[dr_lew]

Thanks!

I always look forward to that :-)