in Ursa Major were discovered by P. Mechain in 1781; M97 is one of the
largest panetary nebula but rather featureless in smal telescopes due to the low surface
brightness. Lord Rosse in 1848 saw a striking resemblence to a Owl's face. It
is believed the nebulas is at about 1630 light years.
M97 is a multi-shell bi-polar planetary, recent studies indicate 3 and possibly
4 shells are present.
Penryn,California
January 2003
FS-128 (AG, ST-4)
ST-10XME RGB 10-10-10 minutes