Dumbbell Nebula (M27) Observation Details
M27 Daily Motion
M27 will rise before twilight begins, at 13:15, and will reach 74° elevation by the time twilight commences at 19:55. It will reach its transit at 75° by 20:28 and gradually fade away as the night ends at 03:39, maintaining an elevation of around 0°.M27 will be visible until January, 1, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M27 Visibility Timetable on August 31
M27 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Moon Rise, 46.4% illuminated | 11:58 | -12° |
| M27 rise | 13:15 | |
| Sunset | 17:37 | 50° |
| Civil sunset | 18:05 | 56° |
| Astrosession begin | 19:10 | 68° |
| M27 transit | 20:28 | 75° |
| Moon Set | 21:19 | 72° |
| Astrosession end | 03:06 | 6° |
| M27 set | 03:42 |
Track M27 Position Throughout the Night
← Sun, 31 August 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
Where is M27 right now?
M27 is located in the constellation Vulpecula, at right ascension 19h 59m 36s" and declination 22° 43' 15s. At the current time, it is above the horizon at an altitude of 74 degrees toward the south-southwest from your location, with an apparent magnitude of 7.40.M27 - Dumbbell Nebula
The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Vulpecula. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. M27 is one of the largest and brightest planetary nebulae known.
M27 spans about 3 light-years across and is illuminated by a hot, central white dwarf star. The nebula is approximately 1,360 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 7.5, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M27 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M27
| Object name | M27 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M27 coordinates | 19.99344, 22.72103 |
| Center coordinates | 19.99344, 22.72103 |
M27 Passage Through Night
Current position of M27
| Time | 19:55 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| M27 elevation | 74° |
| M27 Azimuth | -152° |
Annual motion of M27
| Date | Mon, 1 September 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 19:08 |
| Twighlight end | 03:04 |
| Twighlight duration | 8h 57m |
| Rise | 13:11 |
| Set | 03:38 |
| Elevation at transit | 75° |
| Transit time | 20:24 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 19h 59m 36s", Dec: 22° 43' 15s |
| Magnitude | 7 |
| Constellation | Vulpecula |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M27 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Astrometric & Physical Parameters of M27
Coordinates & Visibility
| Right Ascension | 19.99344° |
| Declination | 22.72103° |
| Magnitude | 7.40 |
| Constellation | Vulpecula |
| Elevation | 73.7° |
| Azimuth | -151.8° |
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.