Login « Sidebar
Yesterday's Light » Star Dust » Owl Nebula

Actions

Advanced Search
RSS Feed for this Photo View Latest Comments

Star Dust

1. Dumbbell... ... 17. The... 18. The Crab... 19. The Crab... 20. Owl Nebula 21. The Helix... 22. Pickering's... 23. The Veil... ... 38. m27-OIII

Random Image

Dumbbell Nebula

Dumbbell Nebula

Date: 08/27/2005 Views: 867

Expand | Collapse

 
Owl Nebula
Pussy In The Sky With Diamonds Eagle Nebula The Crescent Nebula The Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula Owl Nebula The Helix Nebula Pickering's Triangle
The Veil Nebula The Horsehead Nebula The Horsehead Nebula Still in the Dark

Owl Nebula

M97 is one of the fainter objects in Messier's catalog, discovered by Pierre Méchain on February 16, 1781. M97 is one of the more complex planetary nebulae. Its appearance has been interpreted as that of a cylindrical torus shell (or globe without poles), viewed oblique, so that the projected matter-poor ends of the cylinder correspond to the owl's eyes. This shell is enveloped by a fainter nebula of lower ionization. The mass of the nebula has been estimated to amount 0.15 solar masses, while the 16 mag central star is believed to be of about 0.7 solar masses. Its dynamical age is about 6,000 years. (from Stephen J. Hynes, Planetary Nebulae).
Source: www.seds.org/messier/m/m097.html