Astronomy Picture of the Day - M27: The Dumbbell Nebula

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-12-30 21:55:31 | Updated at 2025-01-02 18:59:47 2 days ago

Astronomy Picture of the Day - M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
NASA ^ | 30 Dec, 2024 | Image Credit & Copyright: Christopher Stobie

Posted on 12/30/2024 1:52:33 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Is this what will become of our Sun? Quite possibly. The first hint of our Sun's future was discovered inadvertently in 1764. At that time, Charles Messier was compiling a list of diffuse objects not to be confused with comets. The 27th object on Messier's list, now known as M27 or the Dumbbell Nebula, is a planetary nebula, one of the brightest planetary nebulas on the sky and visible with binoculars toward the constellation of the Fox (Vulpecula). It takes light about 1000 years to reach us from M27, featured here in colors emitted by sulfur (red), hydrogen (green) and oxygen (blue). We now know that in about 6 billion years, our Sun will shed its outer gases into a planetary nebula like M27, while its remaining center will become an X-ray hot white dwarf star. Understanding the physics and significance of M27 was well beyond 18th century science, though. Even today, many things remain mysterious about planetary nebulas, including how their intricate shapes are created.

TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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1 posted on 12/30/2024 1:52:33 PM PST by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 12/30/2024 1:52:54 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...

Pinging the APOD list

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3 posted on 12/30/2024 1:53:51 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

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