M76

M76 is one of the faintest Messier Objects, and one of only four planetary nebulae in Messier's catalog, situated in the Eastern part of constellation Perseus. Often called the Little Dumbbell Nebula because of its slight resemblance to M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, M76 is probably a bright and slightly elliptical ring we see edge-on, from only a few degrees off its equatorial plane. The brightest portion of the nebula is only about 1 minute of arc in diameter but it is surrounded by a faint halo which spans almost 5 minutes of arc. It is believed that this material was likely ejected in the form of stellar winds from the central star when it was still in the Red Giant phase of evolution. Today the central star is of mag 16.6, too faint to show up on ordinary photos. Unfortunately, the distance to this object is not well known, with estimates ranging from about 2,000 to 15,000 light years.

Image taken September 5, 2012, with the C-14 operating at F:7 and the ST-8 camera binned 2 X 2. Exposure is a total of 11 minutes, 5 for the luminous frame, and 2 minutes each for the R, G, and B frames, all self-guided.