M97 The Owl Nebula and M108 The Surfboard galaxy

Two very different objects found close together in Ursa Major. The Owl Nebula is a "Planetary" nebula. This however is a misnomer as it has nothing to do with planets, it is a dying star that is casting off its outer layers into space as it's energy overcomes it's remaining gravity. The Surfboard galaxy appears small but this is due to its distance of 28 million light years from earth. It has an estimated mass of 125 billion solar masses. A new supernova was observed in this galaxy as recently as 13th march 2023 but consider that the light took 28 million years to arrive. There are many distant galaxies in this image, around two hundred are shown in the annotated image. 

M97 Owl 
Actual Size : 0.91 Light Years (Increasing in diameter by between 27 and 39 km per second)
Sky Size    : 16' x 3'
Distance    : 2,030 Light Years

M108 Surfboard 
Actual Size : 32,615 Light Years
Sky Size    : 8' 42" x 2' 12"
Distance    : 28 million Light Years
Target  : M97 The Owl and M108 The Surfboard
 
Date    : 2023-04-22

Scope   : CFF 135/926
Mount   : EQ6R-Pro (DFO StellarDrive)
Camera  : QHY600 Lite
Filters : Chroma
• Red   : 24 x 300s
• Green : 24 x 300s
• Blue  : 24 x 300s
	  
Total Integration : 6 hours

Data capture during 18th and 19th April 2023.