Object name: M27 Dumbbell nebula
Popular name: Dumbbell nebula
Object type: Planetary Nebula
Magnitude: 7.6
Size: 6.7 0
Position angle: 0
Classification: PN
Apparent RA: 19 59 36.3 Apparent Dec: +22 43 18
Constellation: Vulpecula

This image was taken with a Canon 40D DSLR and Stellarview 102ED refractor. 12 x 4 minutes @ ISO 1600. Image captured, aligned and stacked in Nebulosity. Digital Development in Images Plus and final processing in Photoshop. 5 x 4 minute Darks applied.

Compare with earlier M27 image with different exposure settings.

The Bubble Nebula is a glowing cloud of stars, gas, and dust located some 11,300 light years away toward the constellation Cassiopeia. (The Bubble Nebula is also designated as NGC 7635.) The nebula surrounds a hot star roughly 20 times more massive than the Sun, which is visible near the right-hand edge of the image. Ultraviolet light from the star causes the gas to glow through a process known as fluorescence, and winds of material blown out from the star give the nebula its characteristic shape. The nebula is some 10 light years across.

The Bubble Nebula is an example of a massive star with an extremely strong solar wind embedded inside a large gas cloud. This wind is moving at 2000 km per second (4 million miles per hour)  and has carved out a large bubble 7 light years in diameter within the cloud. The wind slows as it hits the much denser gas cloud, creating the surface of the bubble. The star responsible is the brightest star within the bubble (the star with diffraction spikes in this photo) - BD602522 also known as SAO20575. This blue star is 40 times more massive than the sun but due to it's distance of 7100 light years, its apparent magnitude is just 8.7. The star is not at the center of the bubble. This is because the surrounding gas is not uniform and is much denser at the top left - which slows down the solar wind much sooner. At the top left of the gas cloud you can just make out some dense clumps or columns of gas. These are similar to the famous columns in the Eagle Nebula, but they are not being eroded as fast. The whole nebula is glowing due to the intense ultra violet radiation from the central star.

This image was captured on 11th August 2010. 10 x 5 minute images at ISO 1600 were taken with a Canon 40D DSLR and Stellarview 102ED Refractor. Captured in Nebulosity and processed in Images Plus and Photoshop. The above image cropped and enlarged.

Open cluster M52 is one of the original discoveries of Charles Messier who catologed it on September 7, 1774 when the comet of that year came close to it.

Amateur Astronomers like myself can see M52 as a nebulous patch in good binoculars or finder scopes. In 4-inch telescopes, it appears as a fine, rich compressed cluster of faint stars, often described as of fan or "V" shape; the bright yellow star is to the SW edge. John Mallas noted "a needle-shaped inner region inside a half-circle."

M52 can be found quite easily by extending the line from Alpha over Beta Cassiopeiae by 6 1/2 degrees to the NW to 5th mag 4 Cassiopeiae; M52 is roughly 1 degree south and slightly west of this star. Just immediately south of M52 is the little conspicuous open cluster Czernik 43 (Cz 43), which is visible in larger telescopes only.

Images copyright K.Grice 2010

The Veil Nebula is the spectacular result of a supernova explosion that occurred about 30,000 years ago towards the centre of the two main arcs. This image shows the western arc, designated NGC 6960. The bright magnitude 4 star in the centre is 52 Cygni. The Veil Nebula takes its name from the delicate filamentary structure of the expanding gas shells which appear in different colours owing to temperature variations in the gaseous elements that comprise the shell structure. This shock front is effectively sweeping the interstellar gas and dust as it expands, leaving the trailing region clearer with many more stars visible.

This image was taken on the 7th August 2010 with a Canon 40D and Stellarview 102ED Refractor. Only 8 five minute images were taken...I planned for 12 images but the clouds rolled in.

The Veil Nebula in the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan is one of the most beautiful and interesting objects in the sky. Deep sky astrophotography using long exposures on film or moderately long exposures with CCD cameras reveal  inspiring details of the remnants of this ancient supernova explosion.

Catalog number NGC 6992, the eastern portion of the Veil Nebula is actually expanding debris from the supernova explosion of a star that took place over 5000 years ago. The Veil Nebula is approximately 1,440 light-years away (reported distance has been changing and continues to change based on recent scientific studies). The picture shows the fine colored wisps of gas which are filaments of shocked interstellar gas along the shockwave of the expanding supernova remnants. As the expanding supernova material smashes into the gas, the gas glows and forms the visible wisps of this image. The expanding material hits the gas at a speed of more than 600,000 kilometers per hour.

This image was taken on 06. 08. 2010 at 2am BST. It was a Moonless sky and The Milky Way was really clear during this August evening...10 seperate images of 5mins. @ ISO 1600, taken with a Canon 40D DSLR and Stellearview 102ED Refractor at f/5.6. Guiding with a Toucam Pro and K3CCD tools.....Image processing and capture in Nebulosity and Images Plus. Final Levels and Curves in Photoshop. ........copyright K.Grice 2010..

This enlarged and cropped image shows the incredible structure of the nebula.