Observation Log - August 6, 2000 - Tinton Falls, NJ

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M27, the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula, a planetary nebula, magnitude 7.6, dimensions 8'.0 x 4'.7, distance is 815 light years. Images were taken using the f/6.3 focal reducer, for an effective f/ratio of f/4. This is an LRGB composite. The Luminance channel is a composite of 10 images totaling 21 minutes; red channel is 7 images totaling 14 minutes; green is 7 images for 14 minutes; and blue is 8 images for 16 minutes. Each channel was processed separately with dark frame removal, flat field and compositing. The luminance channel was processed with a Digital Development (FFT, low-pass, mild). Then the four composites were color combined and aligned into a color composite. This image was color balanced, saturation adjusted, and contrast stretched. Compage with my previous effort, taken on 04/03/00. Here's another version of the new image, resampled to be 50% larger.