Messier 97, The Owl nebula
Messier 108, The Surfboard galaxy
Constellation: Ursa Major
This wide field image shows both the planetary nebula Messier 97, the Owl nebula (NGC 3587) and Messier 108, the Surfboard galaxy (NGC 3556), a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major. Messier 97 is about 2’300 Ly away, while Messier 108 is located about 46 million Ly from Earth. Link to interactive sky chart.
Dates:
This image was taken in March 2024
Color palette is HOO.
Telescope & Mount:
Celestron 9.25″ EdgeHD with Hyperstar 4.0 on a 10Micron GM1000HPS mount.
Imaging:
Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro (bin 1×1)
Data:
Antlia ALP-T Dual Band 5nm Highspeed: 197x180s.
Total integration time: 9h 51′
Below are two cropped images of Messier 97 (left) and Messier 108 (right)
Messier 97 is estimated to be about 8’000 years old and presents three concentric shells. The outermost, more diffuse shell is about 20–30% larger than the inner shell. The owl-like appearance of the nebula is due to the inner shell. The central star of this planetary nebula is condensing to form a white dwarf. Its mass is 55–60% of the Sun, is 41 to 148 times more luminous than the Sun, and has a temperature of 123,000 °K. The tiny galaxy to its southeast is MCG+09-19-014. Link to interactive sky chart.
Messier 108 is an isolated member of the Ursa Major Cluster of galaxies in the local supercluster. This galaxy has an estimated mass of 125 billion solar masses (M☉) and contains about 290 ± 80 globular clusters. Link to interactive sky chart.