M27, also designated NGC 6853, or more commonly called the "Dumbell Nebula," is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Vulpecula.  It lies at a distance of about 1,360 light-years from Earth, has a visual magnitude of 7.5, and it's diameter is approximately 8 arcminutes.  This object was the first planetary nebula discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbbell_Nebula

 

ABOUT THE IMAGE

DATE/TIME:  The evening and early morning of June 24th and 25th, 2011.

CAMERA:  Canon XSI, 450D modified

TELESCOPE:  Orion 100ED @ F/18

MOUNT:  Celestron CG-5GT.

ISO SETTING:  800

EXPOSURES:  26

EXPOSURE LENGTH:  500sec.

TOTAL EXPOSURE LENGTH:  3hrs 36min. 40sec.

SUBTRACTIONS: 10 dark frames and 10 bias frames.

CAPTURE: MaximDL

STACKING/PRE-PROCESSING: Deep Sky Stacker

PROCESSING: Photoshop CS3