APOD #3 on Messier 76

M76 is a faint nebula with the common name of "Little Dumbbell Nebula," because it resembles M27. Both M76 and M27 are both planetary nebulae, which, unlike what the name suggests, is actually gases given off by a dying star. According to Messier, it is "at the right foot of Andromeda," which also contains M31, The Andromeda Galaxy. The nebula itself resembles a donut but, due to our almost edge-on view, it appears box shaped. It is thought to be 3 to 5 thousand light years away, which makes the nebula over 1 light year in diameter. The dying star of the nebula can be seen in the center of the image. It is the blue star in the binary system.