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M27

"Dumbbell Nebula"
Planetary Nebula

Right Ascension 19h 59m 36s Best Seen 7/1-11/15
Declination 22° 43' 02" Magnitude 7.4
Constellation Vulpecula

Actual
Compared
to ...
Distance ~1,000 ly --
Diameter ~1.5 ly --
Actual Brightness of central star -- 1/3 (Sun)
Magnitude of central star 13.5
Spectral Type of central star -- G2 V (Sun)
Surface Temperature of star 85,000° K --
Age 3,000 - 4,000 years
Density (gram/cubic cm) -- --

What To Look For Through The Telescope


  1. Recommended eyepiece: 26mm or 40 mm.

  2. This object will look like a whitish, hazy cloud when seen through the telescope..


M27 "Dumbbell Nebula" Information


  1. The nebula is expanding at 17 miles per second.

  2. The central star’s temperature of 85,000 K, makes it one of the hottest stars known.

  3. Discovered on July 12, 1764 by Charles Messier, the Dumbbell Nebula was the first planetary nebula ever discovered.

Home > Nebulae > Planetary Nebulae > M27 > References
References
Item Updated Notes
Coordinates 2002-09-23 tweaked a bit
Distance 2002-09-25 previous: 900 ly... found new at SEDS site http://messier.seds.org/m/m027.html
Diameter 2002-09-25 previous: 2.5 ly... found info at http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/html/im0054.html
Actual Brightness 2002-09-25 previous: 0.5 (sun) – BUT new info from SEDS
Magnitude Central Star 2002-09-25 OK with SEDS site
Surface Temp Cent. Star 2002-09-25 OK with SEDS site
Age 2002-09-25 OK with SEDS site
Other Information 2002-09-25 1. Previously had info: “This planetary’s age of 48,000 years makes it about 2.5 times older than the average age (20,000 years) of typical bright planetary nebulae.” – BUT all found info says age only 3-4000 years
2. Previously, had info: “The central star may be a double star with a separation of 1.6 trillion miles (.28 light years or 18,000 times the Earth-sun distance).” – BUT can only find that “it probably has a faint (mag 27) yellow companion at 6.5" in position angle214 deg (Burnham).” on the SEDS site
3. Info Item 3: SEDS site