M108 
Nearly edge-on Spiral Galaxy
aka NGC 3556, PGC 34030, MCG 9-18-98, Uppsala 6225, H46
Integrated Visual Magnitude: 10.9
Apparent Diameter: 8.1' x 2.7'
Mean surface brightness: 22.9 mag/arc-sec2

Minimum requirements to view: a 2-inch scope under country skies

Many observers think of M108 as "that galaxy near the Owl nebula" but it is an interesting object in its own right.  Located less than a degree away from M97 (the Owl), M108 is a relatively easy find.   M108 is one of the six objects added to the Messier catalog in the 20th century based on Messier's notes.
Walter Scott Houston describes M108 as a "bright strip of a spiral."  Burnham's scorns the M108 designation but does describe the galaxy while describing M97; "Just 48' to the NW the observer will notice the pale glow of the nearly edge-on spiral NGC 3556, looking like a little ghostly cigar..."  To my eye it appears really quite mottled, with lots of fuzzy, unresolved, detail.

The field in a six-inch at 50x.  North is down and east is to the right.
Millennium Star Atlas Vol I Chart 576
Sky Atlas 2000 Chart 2
Uranometria 2000 Vol I Chart 46

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