Monday, 18 October 2010

M27

The autumn observing season is now well underway, heralded by the ever darkening evenings and chillier air.

This is Messier object 27, a planetary nebula some 1,360 light years from earth in the constellation of vulpecula; the first planetary nebula to be discovered. The colourful shells of gas that form the nebula are created by ultra-violet emissions from the white dwarf remains of the progenitor star that created it, causing the gases to glow according to their chemical composition.








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