Lagoon Nebula

Coordinates

  • X -472
  • Y -100
  • Z 4470
→ Sol: ∼4,496

Object type

  • HII region
  • Open cluster
  • Radio-source
simbad:M 8

Wiki

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654 and is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. In the foreground is the open cluster NGC 6530.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lagoon Nebula", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.