The Lagoon Nebula, or M8, is a bright emission nebula in the constellation Sagittarius and one of the large star-forming regions in our Galaxy. Inside the nebula lies the young open cluster NGC 6530: its hot young stars illuminate the surrounding hydrogen, making the nebula stand out strongly in red H-alpha emission. A faint bluish veil of illuminated dust can also be seen over the red regions.
There is almost no “empty space” around the nebula in the usual sense. M8 lies in the direction of the central regions of the Milky Way, where the density of stars and interstellar matter is very high. Because of that, even the background is filled with the faint glow of millions of stars, along with dust and gas.
To the left of the Lagoon there is a whole scattering of smaller nebulae and gas-dust structures, including the region around NGC 6559 and fainter Sharpless/Lynds clouds, forming a contrasting frame around the whole group.
| Camera | ZWO ASI2600MC |
| Optics | Askar 103 APO |
| Mount | UMi 17S |
| Gain | 0 |
| Sensor Temperature | –10 °C |
| F-ratio | f/5.6 |
| Exposure | 177 × 120 s |
| Total Integration | 5h 54m |
| Processing | Siril, GraXpert, Affinity |
Annotated
