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
Messier M8 - NGC6523 & NGC6530 - Lagoon Nebula and Cluster, Geoff Scott
Messier M8 - NGC6523 & NGC6530 - Lagoon Nebula and Cluster
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Messier M8 - NGC6523 & NGC6530 - Lagoon Nebula and Cluster, Geoff Scott
Messier M8 - NGC6523 & NGC6530 - Lagoon Nebula and Cluster
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Description

The Lagoon Nebula is a giant interstellar cloud ~4100 LY away in the constellation Sagittarius. The pink/red glow is caused by ionised Hydrogen gas. The ionisation comes from extremely bright young stars with high Ultraviolet light output. M8 is just visible to the naked eye in dark skies and easily seen in binoculars. It spans 90' x 40' which is ~3 x 1 full moon diameters and at its distance equates to 110 x 50 LY. Imagine the energy required to light that up!

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Messier M8 - NGC6523 & NGC6530 - Lagoon Nebula and Cluster, Geoff Scott