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).

Characteristics

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.

The Lagoon Nebula features several distinctive structures, including:

Observations in 2006 revealed four Herbig–Haro objects within the Hourglass structure, providing direct evidence of ongoing star formation through accretion processes.

Gallery

  • Lagoon Nebula in HaRGB
  • Lagoon Nebula in SHO by amateur astronomer Buzz Jumaah from Auckland, New Zealand
  • False color (SHO without green reduction) close up from Madison, Wisconsin, USA
  • The Lagoon Nebula as imaged by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in very high-resolution, taken on May 28, 2025

See also

Notes

External links