The Dumbbell Nebula, Messier 27, as photographed within the FORS Science Verification program with the FORS spectrograph on the ESO 8.2-meter VLT Unit Telescope (UT) 1. This image was obtained on September 28, 1998.
Central part of the Dumbbell Nebula, enlarged from the previous image.
Some technical information: Above photographs are reproduced from a three-colour composite based on two interference ([OIII] at 501 nm and 6 nm FWHM - 5 min exposure time; H-alpha at 656 nm and 6 nm FWHM - 5 min) and one broadband (Bessell B at 429 nm and 88 nm FWHM; 30 sec) filtre images, obtained during mediocre seeing conditions (0.8 arcsec). The CCD camera has 2048 x 2048 pix, each covering 24 x 24 micrometers and the sky fields shown measure 6.8 x 6.8 arcmin and 3.5 x 3.9 arcmin, respectively. North is up; East is left.
Last Modification: July 29, 1999