The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant emission nebula with an H II region located in the constellation Sagittarius. Discovered by Giovanni Hodierna in 1654, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes (the other being the Orion Nebula). It is located approximately 4,000–6,000 light-years from Earth, the nebula spans 110 by 50 light-years (appearing as 90′ by 40′ in Earth’s sky). While appearing pink in long-exposure photographs, it typically appears gray when viewed through binoculars or telescopes due to the human eye’s limited color sensitivity in low-light conditions. The nebula contains the young open cluster NGC 6530 within its structure
Object Designations: Messier 8 or M8, NGC6523, NGC6530
Also known as: Lagoon Nebula
Constellation: Sagittarius
Object Type: emission nebula
Distance: 4,000 light-years away
Magnitude: 4.6
Discovery: Giovanni Hodierna
Telescope: Apertura CarbonStar 200 Imaging Newtonian 800mm / F4
Camera: ZWO ASI2600 MC Pro – Optolong 2″ L-Quad Enhance Filter
Mount: Celestron AVX – With CPWI Software
Guiding: Apertura 32mm Guide Scope with a ZWO ASI120MM Camera and PHD2
SharpCap Imaging Software
Processing Software
AstroSharp Ltd SharpCap
Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
GraXpert
Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator
Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator
Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator
Various scripts
This final image is:
23 – 70 second subs at 120 gain, L-QEF filter
White Bal (B) = 59
White Bal (R )= 99
Brightness = 12
Camera Temperature = -18
LastPlateSolveData=Plate solve result was RA=17:58:53.7,Dec=-23:42:29 with mount at RA=17:58:53.9,Dec=-23:42:29, FOV 1.755×1.173 degrees, up is 89.53 degrees East of North
