M27 - THE DUMBBELL NEBULA

This is an image of M27, The Dumbbell Nebula found in the constellation of Vulpecula. M27 is one of the finest Planetary Nebulae in the sky and has been formed when a star near the end of its life has shed some of its outer layers. These expand outwards and shine with radiation from the central star. This image represents the sum of 9 X 60 secs exposures at ISO 800 taken at prime focus of 6-inch reflector with EOS-300D. Image was stacked and processed in Iris. The image shown is a 640 X 480 crop of the original frame. Image captured at DSC Headcorn on 5th August 2005 at 22:10