Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: Here's part of the Dumbbell Nebula that you can't see through binoculars. To see this, we suggest a sophisticated spectrograph attached to a telescope with an 8-metre aperture. Pictured above is the central part of the Dumbbell Nebula, also known as M27 and NGC 6853. The Dumbbell is a planetary nebula created by the aging bright star visible just right of centre. The nebula, located in the constellation Vulpecula, is thousands of years old. Visible in this false-colour photograph is glowing hydrogen gas (green) and enigmatical globules of dense molecular gas and dust (red).