Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  7 Sgr  ·  9 Sgr  ·  B296  ·  B88  ·  B89  ·  Hourglass nebula  ·  Lagoon nebula  ·  M 8  ·  NGC 6523  ·  NGC 6526  ·  NGC 6530  ·  Sh2-25  ·  The star 7Sgr  ·  The star 9Sgr
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M8 Lagoon Nebula, Mark Eby
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M8 Lagoon Nebula

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M8 Lagoon Nebula, Mark Eby
Powered byPixInsight

M8 Lagoon Nebula

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Description

M8 is an emission nebula and HII region about 5,000 light-years from Earth, stretching 100 light-years across. It is visually quite exciting since it is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, is surrounded by the Milky Way, and has open cluster NGC 6530 in front of it. The small dark blobs in the nebula are Bok globules, clouds of protostellar material. The bright region near the center, often called the Hourglass portion of M8, has been identified as an active star-forming area. North is at the top.

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M8 Lagoon Nebula, Mark Eby