M97, also known as The Owl Nebula, is one of the fainter objects in Messier's catalog. M97 is a complex planetary nebulae having an inner shell of ionized gas that is enveloped by a fainter outer shell of gas with lower ionization. M97 is the gaseous remnants of the outer layers of a star blown away as it convulsed and collapsed at the end of its nuclear-burning life. The remaining core of the original star shines in the center of the nebula and is a planet-sized white dwarf which was probably similar in size to our sun during its nuclear-burning lifetime. M97 is located approximately 2.6 thousand light-years from earth.

Image capture and processing information:

Date/Location: May 01, 2006, Lake Sonoma, Sonoma County, California
Instrument: Meade DSI II Pro through a Celestron CM-1100 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector using a Meade .33 focal reducer
Focal Ratio: f3.3
Guiding: Autoguided through a modified Orion ED100 refractor using a Philips Vesta Pro webcam (SC-Modified) with Guidedog software
Conditions: Hazy
Weather: 53 F, Party Cloudy, Breezy
Exposure: 10 minutes Luminance (20 x 30 seconds) and 5 minutes (10 x 30 seconds) per color channel
Processing: Focused and captured with Meade Autostar Envisage. Image processed using Meade Autostar Image Processing and Microsoft Photo Editor