The Dumbbell Nebula, M27, is about 1200 light years away and is one of the largest-appearing planetary nebulae. It appears high overhead on autumn evenings in the northern hemisphere in the constellation Vulpecula (the "little fox") near the base of the Northern Cross close to the central axis of the Milky Way.

Planetary nebulae are glowing clouds of gas and plasma formed by some stars when they die. Most stars produce energy for most of their lives by fusing hydrogen to form helium in their cores. When the hydrogen runs out, gravity compresses the core, heating it until it gets hot enough to fuse helium to form carbon and oxygen. The hotter core heats the entire star, making it expand so much that it starts throwing its outer layers off into space. Strong ultraviolet light from the star ionizes the ejected layers, making them emit light as a glowing nebula surrounding the dying star. After a relatively brief 10,000 - 20,000 years, the central star cools to the point that it stops emitting enough UV to ionize the nebula and the nebula stops glowing, becoming invisible.

Composite of 29 4.5-minute exposures through an Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f7 using a Canon 40D at ISO 800 from 2008-09-14 21:23 to 23:35 EDT from northern New Jersey. Field of view is 30.5'x20.3' centered at 19h59m59s, 22°44'40" with north up. Photographed from northern New Jersey. ©2008