M27
Image details
The image was taken at 28 August 2006 without using a focal reducer at f10. The clear layer consists of a median combine of 9 images of 2 minutes exposure each at 1600x1200 pixels. The RGB layers consist of adding 4 exposures of 2 minutes each at 2x2 binning resulting in pictures of 800x600 pixels. For all images darkframes and flatfields are applied. The images are processed further with Photoshop using FITS Liberator.
About M27
The Dumbbell nebula Messier 27 is a planetary nebula discovered in 1764 by Charles Messier. A planetary nebula is an object consisting of a glowing shell of gas and plasma formed by certain types of stars at the end of their lives. M27 has a distance of 1250 lightyears and a visual brightness of 7.4 mag. It has an estimated age of 3000 to 4000 years.