Owl Nebula

planetary nebula · M97 · in Ursa Major

2,660 light-years from Earth

A round shell of gas thrown off by a dying star some 10,000 years ago. Two darker patches inside it look like an owl's eyes: they are the two ends of one barrel-shaped hollow in the shell, tilted about 45 degrees to our view.

• 2,660 light-years (Gaia) · about 2.6 light-years across
• the eyes are the ends of one tilted hollow, not two holes

kind

nebula

catalogue

M97 · NGC 3587

size

2.6 light-years across