Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  M 108  ·  M 97  ·  NGC 3556  ·  NGC 3587  ·  Owl Nebula
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy), JohnEEvans
M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy)
Powered byPixInsight

M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy), JohnEEvans
M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy)
Powered byPixInsight

M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy)

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

The Owl Nebula (M97 or NGC 3587) is a starburst, or planetary, nebula about 2,500 light-years away in Ursa Major. It is believed to be about 8,000 years old. It was formed from the outflow of material from the central star as it dies and condenses into a white dwarf. The nebula around it is arranged in three concentric shells.

The Surfboard Galaxy (M108 or NGC 3556) is a barred spiral galaxy seen almost edge on. It is about 46 million light-years away. It's about the same diameter (100,000 light-years) as our Milky Way but contains only about 1/3 to 1/2 of its mass. There is a supermassive black hole at its centre that's 24 million times the mass of our Sun, or 6 to 8 times as massive as the black hole at the centre of our Milky Way.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M97 (Owl Nebula) and M108 (Surfboard Galaxy), JohnEEvans