Messier 97 (M97)

Common Name: Owl Nebula

Also Known as: NGC 3587

Object Type: Planetary Nebula

Constellation: Ursa Major

Distance from Earth: 2,030 light years

Apparent Magnitude: 9.9

Coordinates: RA 11H 14M 47.734S DEC 55 deg 01 min 08.5 sec

Actual Size: 3 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 3.4 arc-minutes x 3.3 arc-minutes

Discovered by: M97 was discovered by French astronomer Pierre Méchain on February 16, 1781.
Méchain reported the discovery to his friend and colleague Charles Messier, who added the nebula to his catalogue.
In his notes about M97, Messier also mentions two other objects that he observed at the same time.
He determined the positions for both objects, but did not include them in his catalogue. From his descriptions, it is clear that he observed the objects we now know as Messier 108 and Messier 109.
The two galaxies were given Messier names by the American astronomer Owen Gingerich in 1953. Describing M97, Messier wrote: Nebula in the great Bear, near Beta: It is difficult to see, reports Méchain, especially when one illuminates the micrometer wires: its light is faint, without a star.

Description: M97 was named the Owl Nebula because of its appearance in larger telescopes, which reveal 2 dark patches that look like eyes of an owl.
M97 is close to another Messier object, the spiral galaxy M108. The two objects can appear in the same field of view.
The nebula formed when a dying star ran out of hydrogen fuel, collapsed from a red giant to a white dwarf and rejected its outer envelope. The expelled material is heated by the radiation from the central white dwarf producing the nebula’s glow.
The nebula has been expanding and will completely disperse over the next few thousand years.
The white dwarf will cool and fade away over the next several billion years.
It is estimated that it is about 8,000 years old. The nebula is expanding at about 27 to 39 km/s and contains 0.13 solar masses of material.
The central white dwarf has a mass of 0.7 solar masses. When it collapsed, the central star expelled a large amount of matter in two opposing directions, which resulted in the nebula’s owl-like appearance.
The two jets of matter are almost aligned with our line sight, but just slightly off.
The dust in the jets blocks some of the light of the expanding nebula, giving it the appearance of two dark eyes. The jet pointing in our direction appears as the darker eye, while the one pointing away from us appears slightly fainter.
The M97 nebula is arranged in three concentric shells. The outermost shell is about 20 to 30 percent larger than the inner shell, which is not circularly symmetric and forms a barrel-like structure that gives M97 its owl-like appearance when seen from Earth.
The barrel-like structure is aligned at a 45-degree angle to our line of sight.
Messier 97 is one of only four planetary nebulae listed in the Messier catalogue. The other three are the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) in Vulpecula, the Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra, and the Little Dumbbell Nebula (M76) in Perseus constellation.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

The Owl Nebula can be seen with 20x80 binoculars and small telescopes, but only under good conditions. It appears as a ball of light. The owl-like eyes can be seen with 10-inch and larger scopes.

The best time to view M97 is during the spring months.

Platesolve

M97 Planetary Nebula

Imaging Details
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