2026 June 22

M27: The Dumbbell Nebula
* Image Credit & Copyright: Francesco Antonucci
https://app.astrobin.com/u/FrankAntonucci

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 enhanced by red for hydrogen and blue for oxygen. 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.
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1764
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Messier
http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-messier.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/fap/ap080626.html
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/planetary_nebulae.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/constellations/en/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulpecula
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-alpha
https://periodic.lanl.gov/8.shtml
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251207.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230416.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula#Current_issues_in_planetary_nebula_studies
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210425.html

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260622.html

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