Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  Lagoon Nebula  ·  M 8  ·  NGC 6523  ·  NGC 6526  ·  NGC 6530  ·  The star 7 Sgr  ·  The star 9 Sgr
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M8, Geoff Healey
M8
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M8

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M8, Geoff Healey
M8
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M8

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Description

The Lagoon Nebula, (catalog numbers NGC 6523 and M8) is an  ionised-hydrogen region located in the constellation Sagittarius about 4,080 light-years from us. The nebula is a cloud of interstellar gas and dust approximately 33 light-years in diameter. A group of young, hot stars in the cloud ionise the nearby gas. As the atoms in the gas recombine, they produce the light emitted by the nebula. Interstellar dust within the nebula absorbs some of this light and appears almost to divide the nebula, thus producing a lagoon like shape. Courtesy Britannica

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M8, Geoff Healey