Messier 8 The Lagoon Nebula, Overlaying the Center of Our Galaxy
Messier 8 The Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.
The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. Within the nebula is the open cluster NGC 6530.
The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000-6,000 light-years away from the Earth. In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', which translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulas, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by E. E. Barnard as B88, B89 and B296. It also includes a funnel-like or tornado-like structure caused by a hot O-type star that emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula (so named by John Herschel), which should not be confused with the better known Engraved Hourglass Nebula in the constellation of Musca. In 2006 the first four Herbig–Haro objects were detected within the Hourglass, also including HH 870. This provides the first direct evidence of active star formation by accretion within it. (Wikipedia.org)
Technical Information for This Image
This image was taken with a William Optics Zenithstar 81 APO Doublet Refractor on an iOptron CEM25P mount. This telescope is a very compact unit and has optical elements made of FPL53 glass and is actually considerably sharper than some of my larger telescopes. The main imaging camera, attached to the prime focus of the telescope was a ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled camera which was cooled to -5C. The 19 exposures were each 240 seconds, and the gain was set to 120. An Optolong L-Pro filter was used in capturing the exposures. Auto guiding was done using a Skywatcher EVO Guide 50mm refractor attached to a ZWO ASI290MC camera which was connected to PHD2 autoguiding software. Capturing was done with Astrophotography Tool (APT) software and post processed with Pixinsight software with finishing touches put in using Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud. Polar Alignment for the evening was done using SharpCap software.
Messier 8 The Lagoon Nebula, Overlaying the Center of Our Galaxy
Messier 8 The Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.
The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. Within the nebula is the open cluster NGC 6530.
The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000-6,000 light-years away from the Earth. In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', which translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulas, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by E. E. Barnard as B88, B89 and B296. It also includes a funnel-like or tornado-like structure caused by a hot O-type star that emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula (so named by John Herschel), which should not be confused with the better known Engraved Hourglass Nebula in the constellation of Musca. In 2006 the first four Herbig–Haro objects were detected within the Hourglass, also including HH 870. This provides the first direct evidence of active star formation by accretion within it. (Wikipedia.org)
Technical Information for This Image
This image was taken with a William Optics Zenithstar 81 APO Doublet Refractor on an iOptron CEM25P mount. This telescope is a very compact unit and has optical elements made of FPL53 glass and is actually considerably sharper than some of my larger telescopes. The main imaging camera, attached to the prime focus of the telescope was a ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled camera which was cooled to -5C. The 19 exposures were each 240 seconds, and the gain was set to 120. An Optolong L-Pro filter was used in capturing the exposures. Auto guiding was done using a Skywatcher EVO Guide 50mm refractor attached to a ZWO ASI290MC camera which was connected to PHD2 autoguiding software. Capturing was done with Astrophotography Tool (APT) software and post processed with Pixinsight software with finishing touches put in using Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud. Polar Alignment for the evening was done using SharpCap software.