Dumbbell Nebula (M27)

[Christopher K.]

This was discovered by Messier in 1764. I thought I'd post a little something about it considering the recent exoplanet atmosphere story.

It's about 1250 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula the Fox, and an observer can even spot a little color if the aperture in large enough. Below are selected times when it is highest in the Baton Rouge sky...
1 July, 2:25am CDT
21 July, 1:05am CDT
10 August, 11:45pm CDT
30 August, 10:25pm CDT
19 September, 9:05pm CDT
8 October, 7:50pm CDT

More information:
Burnham's Celestial Handbook, pp. 2117-2121 (last article in the three-volume set).
Year-Round Messier Marathon by Harvard Pennington, p. 144.
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/m27.html
http://www.daviddarling.info/encycloped ... ebula.html

[Christopher K.]

At a moderately dim magnitude (and its a cluster at that) a small telescope with very dark skies or a larger telescope with somewhat dark skies is a must. M27 will be rising early Monday morning about 1:30am.