images

The Lagoon nebula (M8) in Sagittarius

by

J.Misti/D.De Martin/Novapix

Reference

a-neb65-23011

Date

2006-10-28

The Lagoon nebula (M8/NGC 6523), can be visible to the unaided eye as a small bright patch above the large Sagittarius star cloud in the Milky Way. The Lagoon nebula is a star-forming region about 5000 light years from us. The nebula is illuminated by several O-type giants within the open cluster NGC 6530 at left of the  nebula. The view taken with a 800 mm telescope spans about 30 light-years.