Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  Hourglass nebula  ·  Lagoon nebula  ·  M 8  ·  NGC 6523  ·  NGC 6526  ·  NGC 6530  ·  NGC 6544  ·  The star 7Sgr  ·  The star 9Sgr
M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula, PrairieSkiesAstro
M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula
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M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula

M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula, PrairieSkiesAstro
M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula

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Description

The Lagoon Nebula is an emissions nebula located approximately 4,000 - 6,000 light years from Earth. It is 110 light years across and contains many Bok globules which are small dark nebulae normally contained within larger HII regions (I always wondered what these "blobs" were called). They contain molecular Hydrogen, Carbon oxides, Helium, and dust and are thought to form multi-star systems.

The Lagoon Nebula was actually discovered prior to 1654 by Giovanni Hodierna. It always amazes me how astronomers who lived centuries ago were able to see and identify objects as faint as this one.

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M8 (NGC6523) Lagoon Nebula, PrairieSkiesAstro