The Ring Nebula

So it's almost 2:00 AM and I have just come in from using my telescope in the side yard where I was looking at some astronomical objects.  Then I put my Sony a7 camera on the telescope and tried for some photographs.  OK, so this little "smoke ring" is underwhelming, unless you are an amateur astronomer and then it is pretty exciting.  It is called "The Ring Nebula" strangely enough and was discovered first by a French Astronomer in 1779 in a telescope with a 3-inch lens.  It is generally believed that in the distant past, a star nearing the end of its life, blew a huge amount of gas off of it's surface as a shell.  The gas has been expanding ever since.  In a really large telescope, the tiny remains of the star can be seen as a faint dot in the center of this round nebula.  I wish this was a better photograph, but for me is is "baby steps" at the telescope and still learning how to use it and the camera in combination, but to get this tonight was a big deal for this beginner.  If you click on the image you will see this in slightly more detail.