Messier 27

 Messier 27, also known as the Dumbbell Nebula or the Apple Core Nebula, is a bright, planetary nebula. Planetary nebulas form from material ejected from a star at the end of its life, which form a cloud surrounding the white dwarf that remains. It is a bright object visually, and is an easy object for beginning astro imagers. This image is a combination of 200 x 25s individual images, taken with a RASA 8 and a Mallincam DS10C with NBZ filter. Clouds rolled in during imaging, and, although they presented challenges to guiding, M27 was clearly visible and I continued imaging. I'm pleased I was able to capture the subtle nebulosity surrounding the main object, but I'm disappointed at how "blown out" the core appears (and the problem does not appear to be correctable). If I get the opportunity, I will retry with shorter exposure times. The image is heavily cropped from the original frame.