The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, NGC 6853) is a bright, nearby planetary nebula in the small constellation Vulpecula. It is the expanding, ionized shell of gas cast off by a Sun-like star near the end of its life; a hot white dwarf remnant at the center illuminates the nebula, with strong O III and Hα emission producing its characteristic “dumbbell” or apple-core shape. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, M27 is among the most rewarding planetary nebulae for visual observers and imagers.

At a distance of roughly ~1,300–1,400 light-years (M27 overview), the main nebular structure spans about 8′ × 5.6′ on the sky, corresponding to a physical size of roughly 2.5–3 light-years. In the eyepiece it shows best at moderate magnification; an O III or UHC filter greatly enhances contrast, revealing the bright lobes and fainter outer halo. Look for M27 in Vulpecula, roughly midway between the stars γ and 14 Vul, just north of the Summer Triangle.

Total image time was 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Date: November 04, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula-10x1200-copy.jpg Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:47:08 -0400 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula-2-copy.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution,
then click again for actual size.

The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, NGC 6853) is a bright, nearby planetary nebula in the small constellation Vulpecula. It is the expanding, ionized shell of gas cast off by a Sun-like star near the end of its life; a hot white dwarf remnant at the center illuminates the nebula, with strong O III and Hα emission producing its characteristic “dumbbell” or apple-core shape. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, M27 is among the most rewarding planetary nebulae for visual observers and imagers.

At a distance of roughly ~1,300–1,400 light-years (M27 overview), the main nebular structure spans about 8′ × 5.6′ on the sky, corresponding to a physical size of roughly 2.5–3 light-years. In the eyepiece it shows best at moderate magnification; an O III or UHC filter greatly enhances contrast, revealing the bright lobes and fainter outer halo. Look for M27 in Vulpecula, roughly midway between the stars γ and 14 Vul, just north of the Summer Triangle.

Total image time was 140 minutes.

Date: October 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula-2-copy.jpg Sun, 26 Oct 2025 12:50:08 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution,
then click again for actual size.

The Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, NGC 6853) is a bright, nearby planetary nebula in the small constellation Vulpecula. It is the expanding, ionized shell of gas cast off by a Sun-like star near the end of its life; a hot white dwarf remnant at the center illuminates the nebula, with strong O III and Hα emission producing its characteristic “dumbbell” or apple-core shape. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, M27 is among the most rewarding planetary nebulae for visual observers and imagers.

At a distance of roughly ~1,300–1,400 light-years (M27 overview), the main nebular structure spans about 8′ × 5.6′ on the sky, corresponding to a physical size of roughly 2.5–3 light-years. In the eyepiece it shows best at moderate magnification; an O III or UHC filter greatly enhances contrast, revealing the bright lobes and fainter outer halo. Look for M27 in Vulpecula, roughly midway between the stars γ and 14 Vul, just north of the Summer Triangle.

Total image time was 140 minutes.

Date: October 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula.jpg Sun, 26 Oct 2025 10:46:19 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula-Cropped.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution,
then click again for actual size.

This cropped image shows the Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27, NGC 6853) is a bright, nearby planetary nebula in the small constellation Vulpecula in more detail. It is the expanding, ionized shell of gas cast off by a Sun-like star near the end of its life; a hot white dwarf remnant at the center illuminates the nebula, with strong O III and Hα emission producing its characteristic “dumbbell” or apple-core shape. Discovered by Charles Messier in 1764, M27 is among the most rewarding planetary nebulae for visual observers and imagers.

At a distance of roughly ~1,300–1,400 light-years (M27 overview), the main nebular structure spans about 8′ × 5.6′ on the sky, corresponding to a physical size of roughly 2.5–3 light-years. In the eyepiece it shows best at moderate magnification; an O III or UHC filter greatly enhances contrast, revealing the bright lobes and fainter outer halo. Look for M27 in Vulpecula, roughly midway between the stars γ and 14 Vul, just north of the Summer Triangle.

Total image time was 140 minutes.

Date: October 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M27-Dumbbell-Nebula-Cropped.jpg Sun, 26 Oct 2025 10:46:19 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M20-Trifid-Nebula.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution,
then click again for actual size.

Took this at the St. Croix Observatory while the Trifd Nebula was low on the horizon (although the conditions were pretty good). Eventually it hit the trees.

The earliest recorded observation of this object was made by Charles Messier in 1764, when he cataloged it as a "nebula without stars" surrounding a cluster. Located in the constellation Sagittarius, Messier 20 is now famously known as the Trifid Nebula because of its striking three-lobed appearance, caused by dark dust lanes dividing the bright emission nebula.

In addition to its red emission regions, the Trifid also contains a prominent blue reflection nebula and regions of dark nebulae, making it a unique object that showcases three types of nebulae in one. The central star cluster energizes the glowing gas and is still an area of active star formation. The brightest star, HD 164492, illuminates much of the nebula and contributes to the dramatic contrast seen in this image.

Total image time was 70 minutes.

Exposure	7 x 10 min.
Gain	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	120mm Skywatcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount
Guiding	ToupTek GPM462M using Phd2 with a 400mm guide scope. Average 20 min sub GuideRMS ranged from 0.9 to 1.1 using 0.5 sec exposures.
Controller	Kstars on MeLe Quieter 4C
Filter	Triad Quad Ultra
Location	St. Croix Observatory, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-09-24
Processing	Processed in PixInsight.
PixInsight Processing	WeightedBatchPreprocessing Script BlurXTerminator GraXpert NoiseXTerminator StarXTerminator Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch on both the stars and starless images HDRMultiScaleTransform on Starless PixelMath to recombine the images

Date: September 25, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M20-Trifid-Nebula.jpg Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:30:48 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M20-Eagle-Nebula.jpg Click on the image to view it at full resolution,
then click again for actual size.

M16, the Eagle Nebula (IC 4703) in the constellation Serpens Cauda. The cluster was discovered by Philippe Loys de Cheseaux in 1745-1746, who made no mention of the nebula. Charles Messier independently rediscovered the cluster in 1764, and described its stars as "enmeshed in a faint glow", suggesting that he discovered the nebula as well. The Herschels apparently did not perceive the nebula, so their catalogs (and consequently the NGC) only describe the cluster. The nebula was probably first photographed by E.E. Barnard in 1895, or by Isaac Roberts in 1897. From Roberts's finding, the nebula was added to the second Index Catalog in 1908 as IC 4703, "with cluster M 16 involved". M 16 is found rather easily, close to Serpens Cauda's borders with Scutum and Sagittarius. Starting from Altair (α Aquilae), follow δ and λ Aql to Gamma Scuti; M 16 is about 2-1/2° west of this star. The Omega Nebula (M 17) is 2° SW of γ Sct. With an overall visual magnitude of 6.4, and an apparent diameter of 7', the Eagle Nebula's star cluster is best seen with low power telescopes. The brightest star in the cluster has an apparent magnitude of +8.24, easily visible with good binoculars. A 4" scope reveals about 20 stars in an uneven background of fainter stars and nebulosity; three nebulous concentrations can be glimpsed under good conditions. Under very good conditions, suggestions of dark obscuring matter can be seen to the north of the cluster.

Total image time was 40 minutes.

Exposure	4 x 10 min.
Gain	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	120mm Skywatcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount
Guiding	ToupTek GPM462M using Phd2 with a 400mm guide scope. Average 20 min sub GuideRMS ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 using 0.5 sec exposures.
Controller	Kstars on MeLe Quieter 4C
Filter	Triad Quad Ultra
Location	St. Croix Observatory, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-09-21
Processing	Processed in PixInsight.
PixInsight Processing	WeightedBatchPreprocessing Script BlurXTerminator GraXpert SpectrophotometricColour Calibration NoiseXTerminator StarXTerminator Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch on both the stars and starless images HDRMultiScaleTransform on Starless PixelMath to recombine the images

Date: April 14, 8151 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M20-Eagle-Nebula.jpg Mon, 22 Sep 2025 18:55:51 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=Leo-Triplet2.jpg
The Leo Triplet comprised of M65, M66 and NGC 3628. Messier 65 (center right, also known as NGC 3623) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, within its highly equatorial southern half. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. With M66 (an intermediate spiral galaxy, above) and NGC 3628 (also known as the Hamburger Galaxy) an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away, they form the Leo Triplet, a small close group of galaxies.

Exposure	18@300 sec + 16@600sec (3.66 hours.)
Gain	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	Skywatcher Esprit 120mm Refractor, 840 mm focal length
Filter	None
Guiding	KStars internal guiding using a ToupTek GPM462M on an Orion 60x240mm Guide scope using PHD2
Controller	Images taken using Kstars on an MeLe Quieter 4C running Ubuntu 22.04.2
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-04-24 - 2025-04-25
PixInsight Processing with the Help of Blair MacDonald	WeightedBatchPreprocessing Script SetiAstro Automatic DBE BlurXTerminator NoiseXTerminator Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch StarXTerminator CurvesTransformation PixelMath

Date: April 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=Leo-Triplet2.jpg Sat, 26 Apr 2025 16:54:55 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=Leo-Triplet_1745615529.jpg
The Leo Triplet comprised of M65, M66 and NGC 3628. Messier 65 (center right, also known as NGC 3623) is an intermediate spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away in the constellation Leo, within its highly equatorial southern half. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1780. With M66 (an intermediate spiral galaxy, above) and NGC 3628 (also known as the Hamburger Galaxy) an unbarred spiral galaxy about 35 million light-years away, they form the Leo Triplet, a small close group of galaxies.

Exposure	18@300 sec (1.5 hours.)
Gain	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	Skywatcher Esprit 120mm Refractor, 840 mm focal length
Filter	None
Guiding	KStars internal guiding using a ToupTek GPM462M on an Orion 60x240mm Guide scope using PHD2
Controller	Images taken using Kstars on an MeLe Quieter 4C running Ubuntu 22.04.2
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-04-24
PixInsight Processing	WeightedBatchPreprocessing Script SetiAstro Automatic DBE BlurXTerminator NoiseXTerminator Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch StarXTerminator CurvesTransformation PixelMath

Date: April 25, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=Leo-Triplet_1745615529.jpg Fri, 25 Apr 2025 18:12:09 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M81-M82_1742656409.jpg
M81, Bodes Galaxy and M82, the Cigar Galaxy . M82 was discovered, along with its neighbor M81, by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774. Located 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M82 has an apparent magnitude of 8.4

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Total image time was 5 hours.

Exposure	11x20 min.+ 8x10 min.
GAIN	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	120mm Skywatcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount
Guiding	ToupTek GPM462M using Phd2
Controller	Kstars on MeLe Quieter 4C
Filter	Optolong L-eNhance
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-03-14, 2025-03-20
Processing	Processed in PixInsight.	SetiAstro Automatic DBE SpectrophotometricColourCalibration BlurXTerminator NoiseXTerminator Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (GHS) (using Blair MacDonald's excellent YT Tutorial) StarXTerminator In the starless image: CurvesTransformation, MultiscaleLinearTransform PixelMath recombination ~((~stars)*(~starless))

Date: March 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M81-M82_1742656409.jpg Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:04 -0300 https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M81-M82-Cropped.jpg
M81, Bodes Galaxy and M82, the Cigar Galaxy . M82 was discovered, along with its neighbor M81, by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774. Located 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major, M82 has an apparent magnitude of 8.4

Note: click on the image to view it at the full resolution of the uploaded image, then click again for actual size.

Total image time was 2.3 hours.

Exposure	7x20 min.
GAIN	100
Camera	ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168]
Optics	120mm Skywatcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount
Guiding	ToupTek GPM462M using Phd2
Controller	Kstars on MeLe Quieter 3C
Filter	Triad Quad Ultra
Location	Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.
Date	2025-02-05
Processing	Processed in PixInsight.	GraXpert Background Neutralization SpectrophotometricColourCalibration BlurXTerminator NoiseXTerminator Statistical Stretch StarXTerminator In the starless image: HDRMultiScaleTransform Mask creation Extract CIE L* component to create the mask Apply it to the starless image CurvesTransformation on the starless image - apply Saturation PixelMath recombination ~((~stars)*(~starless))

Date: March 26, 2025 ]]> https://sciencedowneast.com/zenphoto/index.php?album=Messier.alb&image=M81-M82-Cropped.jpg Wed, 26 Mar 2025 17:50:04 -0300