Owl Nebula

Also known as Messier 97, M97, New General Catalogue 3587

planetary nebula in the constellation Ursa Major

AI overview

The Owl Nebula is a planetary nebula located in the constellation Ursa Major, formed when a dying star shed its outer layers into space. It matters because it helps astronomers study how stars end their lives and understand the processes that create the colorful, glowing clouds we observe throughout our galaxy.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Distance from Earth: 621
Image: M97.jpg

Show 13 more facts

Commons category: Owl Nebula
effective temperature: 65000
catalog code: Gaia DR2 843950873117830528
time of discovery or invention: 1781-02-16
Commons gallery: Messier 97
apparent magnitude: 11.586
right ascension: 168.69880209216000
declination: 55.01902370140770
parallax: 1.1371
radial velocity: 0
redshift: 0.00000
right ascension component of proper motion: -3
declination component of proper motion: 11

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Article

The Owl Nebula (also known as Messier 97, M97 or NGC 3587) is a planetary nebula approximately 2,030 light years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Estimated to be about 8,000 years old, it is approximately circular in cross-section with a faint internal structure. It was formed from the outflow of material from the stellar wind of the central star as it evolved along the asymptotic giant branch. The nebula is arranged in three concentric shells, with the outermost shell being about 20–30% larger than the inner shell. The owl-like appearance of the nebula is the result of an inner shell that is not circularly symmetric, but instead forms a barrel-like structure aligned at an angle of 45° to the line of sight.

The nebula holds about 0.13 solar masses (M☉) of matter, including hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur; all with a density of less than 100 particles per cubic centimeter. Its outer radius is around 0.91 ly (0.28 pc) and it is expanding with velocities in the range of 27–39 km/s into the surrounding interstellar medium.