One of the pleasures of astrophotography is being alone in the darkness of the countryside for several hours at a time, often accomopanied by the familiar but eerie sounds of a hooting owl. M97 is a well known planetary nebula in the constelaltion of Ursa Major, that other inhabitant of the late night woods, the great bear. Formed by the glowing remnants of the ancient star's outer envelope, shed when it ran out of nuclear fuel and became unable to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium, the gas serendipidously formed two voids, giving the appearance of the owl's face.......comforting in the cold of the night.