Herschel 400 Objects

NGC 650=M76 "Little Dumbbell": Planetary Nebula (Perseus) RA: 01h 42.3m / DEC: +51° 34'.5
Instrument: 10-inch Starfinder

M76 is an interesting planetary nebula located about a degree north of 4.0 magnitude Phi Persei. The Little Dumbbell looks like a smaller version of M27. My drawing records a 129X view in the 10-inch Newtonian. M76 presents two prominent lobes, which makes for a striking resemblance to a piece of Rotini. Each lobe has its own listing in the NGC catalog, NGC 650 and NGC 651. However, as the lobes are part of a single object, the convention nowadays is to identify this planetary nebula either as NGC 650 or M76. M76 has a measured photographic magnitude of 12.2 but don't let that deceive you. The visual magnitude is about 9.6. An OIII or UHC filter enhances the view a great deal.


NGC 637 NGC 654

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Revised: January 18, 2003 [WDF]