Wednesday 12 May 2021

M97 & M108 The Whale & The Surfboard.


The owl and the surfboard. I have previously mentioned the astronomical names of objects often resemble what they look like. Two prime examples are M97 the Owl Nebula & M108 the Surfboard Galaxy. The Owl is a planetary nebula, (not a planet) but the violent death of an exploding star, ejecting shells of gas & material into space, Still expanding some 8000 years later at 35km per second, can you see the owls eyes? M108 the Surfboard Galaxy lies some 2000 times more distant at 26 Million light years. Another example of a Galaxy viewed edge on from our perspective and uncannily resembling a surfboard.





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