M108 and M97, the Owl Nebula
Published 7 Jun 26
Pairing of M108 and M97 the Owl Nebula
Annotated image of M108 and M97
About this object
This image is a pairing of two neat objects. One, Messier 108, is a galaxy nicknamed the surfboard galaxy. It is barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major and is located 46 million light years distant. In contrast, on the lower half of the image, is the planetary nebula M97, also known as the Owl Nebula due to two dark regions near its center which sometimes resembles an Owl. M97 is a planetary nebula, the the remnant of a star which shed its gas into space. M97 lies closer to us at 2000 light years distant. Also, within the image, are many faint galaxies which go by a PGC designation. The image was taken during March from Lake Havasu Arizona, and Flagstaff Arizona while on a trip to the SW US and also from Home with my Stellarvue SV 80S refractor and ASI 2600 MC Pro color CMOS camera on a ZWO AM5 mount. It combines 2hrs of normal RGB exposures with 20 hrs of narrowband H Alpha and [O III] exposures using a Antlia ALP-T 5nm Ha/OIII filter.
This image is a pairing of two neat objects. One, Messier 108, is a galaxy nicknamed the surfboard galaxy. It is barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major and is located 46 million light years distant. In contrast, on the lower half of the image, is the planetary nebula M97, also known as the Owl Nebula due to two dark regions near its center which sometimes resembles an Owl. M97 is a planetary nebula, the the remnant of a star which shed its gas into space. M97 lies closer to us at 2000 light years distant. Also, within the image, are many faint galaxies which go by a PGC designation. The image was taken during March from Lake Havasu Arizona, and Flagstaff Arizona while on a trip to the SW US and also from Home with my Stellarvue SV 80S refractor and ASI 2600 MC Pro color CMOS camera on a ZWO AM5 mount. It combines 2hrs of normal RGB exposures with 20 hrs of narrowband H Alpha and [O III] exposures using a Antlia ALP-T 5nm Ha/OIII filter.
Image Details
- Optics : Stellarvue SV80s refractor @f6, 480mm FL
- Mount: ZWO AM5
- Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC pro
- Filters: Antlia 5nm ALP-T Ha/OIII filter
- Exposure (min): RGB 60@120sec, NB 138. @600sec. 2hrs RGB and 23hrs narrowband
- Automation Control: ASI air
- Guiding: ZWO ASI 120 mm mini
- Processing Software: PixInsight
- Location: Lake Havasu AZ, Flagstaff AZ, Ocean Springs, MS
- Sky: Bortle 5 RGB and Bortle 2 -5 NarrowBand
- Date: 14-23 March 2026
