Bright teal oxygen and red hydrogen structures make this one of the most legible planetary nebula plates.
- What am I looking at?
- The Dumbbell Nebula is a planetary nebula — the expanding shell of gas ejected by a dying star.
- How far away is it?
- About 1,360 light-years away.
- Where is it in the sky?
- In Vulpecula, high in the summer Milky Way.
- Why does it matter?
- One of the brightest planetary nebulae and a classic first narrowband target.
- When is the best time to photograph it?
- Summer when Vulpecula is overhead.
Capture summary
Nebula in Vulpecula
OIII, Ha, RGB
OIII, Ha, RGB
Summer target / wide composition
- L-eNhance 25m 5 x 300s
- Totals 25m
Same target, different years.
Older revisions stay in the archive so you can see how the target changed with different equipment, processing, and experience.
When to image this target
Nebula in Vulpecula; best planned for June through August from New Jersey.
Summer targets often improve later at night as the Milky Way climbs higher.
Assumes a New Jersey backyard horizon and evening imaging.
Emission nebulae are good candidates for narrowband filters; reflection nebulae prefer darker skies.
M27 is listed here in Vulpecula.
Current frame: Natural and narrowband blend / OIII, Ha, RGB.
Live altitude, moon, and filter guidance
Calculating target altitude and moon context.
Use the full planner to enter a ZIP code, choose a date, and compare the target from your sky.
Based on the current time.
Green marks usable dark-sky altitude.
Next upper transit.
Approximate horizon crossing.
Moon phase and altitude.
Acquisition & processing notes
Filter channels, integration times, and capture dates for this frame. View on AstroBin.
- L-eNhance 5 x 300s, 25m
- Totals 25m
Field notes for this target.
Browse all capture notesHow I captured this
| Channel | Frames | Time |
|---|---|---|
| L-eNhance | 5 x 300s | 25m |
| Totals | — | 25m |
- Equipment used
- From my current rig
- Mount
- iOptron CEM60
- Telescope
- Explore Scientific FCD100 127mm Carbon Fiber Triplet APO
- Camera
- ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
- Filters
- Chroma 36mm Ha, OIII, SII, and LRGB (ZWO EFW 7×36mm)
- Focuser / rotator
- MoonLite NiteCrawler
- Reducer
- Starizona Apex ED 0.65×
- Guiding
- ZWO off-axis guider + ASI290MM Mini
- Control / power
- PrimaLuceLab Eagle 4S, Powerwerx PSU, Bioenno field battery, and MEGAbox
