M27

Image of the planetary nebula M27 Dumbbell in Vulpecula.

LX200R Ritchey-Chretien 0.40m F10 + STL 1001E CCD
6x30secs North up, East left 2007.09.22
Scale 1.23 arc sec/pixel, 1024x1024 pixels.


Despite the nearly full Moon and some high thin cirrus clouds I captured this composition of six images of 30 seconds then stacked, La Cañada J87 2007.09.22.

Stars with mass above Chandrasekhar limit (1.4 Solar masses) burn nuclear fuel (hydrogen then helium) quite fast, when exhausted the radiation pressure is no longer able to support the weight of the outer layers of the star, which was so far in hydrostatic equilibrium. The usual end is an implosion of the external shells, still with hydrogen, raising the core temperatures and starting suddenly explosive nuclear reactions. The result is visible many times as a Supernova. Later on the gas and metal debris ejected into the galaxy's neighbourhoods shine as a planetary nebula. In the geometrical center of the cloud it is sometimes visible the remmanents of the progenitor star.