Canon 30D Unmodified
17x180sec at iso 1600
30 Darks/Flats/Bias
Astronomik CLS Filter
Celestron 8

M57 in Lyra, located 2300 light years from earth is the prototype planetary nebula. Evidence indicates that it is actually a ring and not a shell or sphere viewed on an angle. The nebula has been expanding for only an estimated 1600 years.

The central star is a planet-sized white dwarf star, of about 15th magnitude. It is the remainder of a sunlike star, which has blown away its outer envelopes. Now over 100,000 K hot, it will soon start to cool down, shine as a white dwarf star for several billions of years, and then eventually end as a cold Black Dwarf.


May 21, 2007