M27

A rare clear couple of hours gave me the chance to get out and snap some cosmic stuff. This is the outcome of 56 minutes of exposure time with my camera attached to a telescope, effectively using the telescope as a telephoto lens.
The object is known as M27, the Dumbbell Nebula or sometimes the Applecore Nebula because of its visual appearance.
It is an expanding cloud of gas created as a star sheds its outer atmosphere at the end of its life. M27 is about 1300 light years away from us and over a light year across.