M97, known as the Owl Nebula, is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Ursa Major at an approximate distance of 2,600 light-years. It represents the outer layers of a Sun-like star that have been expelled into space during the late stages of stellar evolution. The nebula’s distinctive appearance, with two darker regions resembling “eyes,” is caused by variations in density and ionization within the expanding shell, shaped by complex interactions between stellar winds and radiation from the central star.
The nebula emits strongly in ionized oxygen (OIII) and hydrogen (H-alpha), producing its characteristic blue-green and red structure. Its relatively large angular size and low surface brightness make it a challenging target, requiring extended integration to reveal subtle internal structure and the faint outer halo.
Sharing the same field of view is M108, an edge-on spiral galaxy located approximately 45 million light-years away. In contrast to the nearby planetary nebula, M108 is a distant extragalactic system characterized by a prominent dust lane and irregular structure. The juxtaposition of M97 and M108 highlights two vastly different astrophysical phenomena—stellar death within our galaxy and large-scale galactic structure far beyond it.
This image was created using a combination of narrowband (SII, H-alpha, OIII) and broadband RGB data acquired from Arnold, CA. The data were collected between March 24 and April 8, 2023, with a total integration time of 21 hours. The processing blends SHO narrowband data to enhance the ionization structure of M97, while RGB data preserves natural star color and reveals the detailed structure of M108 within the same field.