About Dumbbell Nebula (M27)

Dumbbell Nebula is a rewarding deep-sky target and presents itself as a diffuse object. It has moderate brightness.

Current visibility

It is currently below the horizon.

It stays above 30° for roughly 8 hours.

Nebulae benefit from filters, fine detail requires darker skies.

Observing tips

It can be challenging under typical skies.

What to expect

With larger apertures, more structure becomes visible.

It is less prominent than the brightest objects in the catalog.

Type

Planetary Nebula

Constellation

Vulpecula

Distance

1250 ly

Size

8.0' x 5.7'

Season

Summer

Difficulty

Easy

Magnitude

7.4