◈ Dumbbell Nebula

  Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula in Vulpecula.

                     ..:::..
                    .+*****+.
                   .+*#####*+.
                  .:*##*+*##*:.
                  .:*#*+++*#*:.
                   :*###*###*:
                   .:**###**:.
                    .+#####+.
                   .:**###**:.
                   :*###*###*:
                  .:*#*+++*#*:.
                  .:*##*+*##*:.
                   .+*#####*+.
                    .+*****+.
                     ..:::..

  Type            Planetary nebula
  Constellation   Vulpecula
  Magnitude       7.5
  Apparent size   8′ × 5.7′
  You need        binoculars

  Known as
  Messier         M27
  Dreyer          NGC 6853

  Physical
  Distance        1,360 light years

  More information about Dumbbell Nebula

  The same kind of object as the Ring Nebula, the Dumbbell Nebula is eight
  times larger and much easier to see: binoculars from a dark site will
  show it. The name "planetary nebula" is a historical mistake: they
  looked like planetary discs in early telescopes but have nothing to do
  with planets.

  History
  Discovered   1764, Charles Messier, the first planetary nebula found

  Messier was hunting comets. He compiled his list between 1758 and 1781
  as a register of things that look like comets but are not. That's why
  the objects on it have nothing in common beyond being fuzzy and staying
  put.

  Dreyer compiled the New General Catalogue in 1888, mostly from the
  sweeps William and John Herschel made of the sky, and numbered its 7,840
  objects in order of right ascension.

  where it is tonight:  skymap.sh/Dumbbell Nebula