Discovered
by Charles Messier in 1764.
The
Dumbbell Nebula M27 was the first planetary nebula ever discovered. On
July 12, 1764, Charles Messier discovered this new and fascinating
class of objects, and describes this one as an oval nebula without
stars. The name "Dumb-bell" goes back to the description by John
Herschel, who also compared it to a "double-headed shot."
We happen
to see this one approximately from its equatorial plane (approx.
left-to-right in our image); this is similar to our view of another,
fainter Messier planetary nebula, M76, which is called the Little
Dumbbell. From near one pole, it would probably have the shape of a
ring, and perhaps look like we view the Ring Nebula M57.
By
comparing images of the Dumbbell Nebula M27, Leos Ondra has discovered
a variable star situated in the very outskirts of the nebula which he
called Goldilocks' Variable. This variable can be found in some of our
images, namely those of Jack Newton, Peter Sütterlin and (faintly)
David Malin's INT photo, as well as one of the images by John Sefick.
Other images such as the one in this page don't show this star, proving
its variability.
