M97 - The Owl Nebula

Description: The Owl Nebula is a planetary nebula, caused when a small or medium-sized star reaches the end of its life and puffs its atmosphere into space. The star in the Owl Nebula started out life barely heavier than the Sun, but is now only 70% as massive as the Sun. The nebula represents a further 15% of a solar mass, and the rest was lost to space before the nebula formed. The physical shape of the nebula is complex, and has been described as a globe without the poles.

Image information: Stacked, dark-subtracted, registered combination of 70 x 10s white light images. A mild blur has been applied to reduce noise. Image taken 04/04/2006 22:10 UT.

Physical information: Magnitude: 12.0, size: 3.4'x3.3', a.k.a: NGC3587.

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