M 8 is one of the largest and brightest emission nebulae in
the sky. On a dark summer night, you can see this object with
the unaided eye as a puff within the Milky Way that rises from
the spout of the "teapot" pattern in Sagittarius. Like other
emission nebulae, M 8 is a place where new stars are forming
out of interstellar hydrogen and dust. The hydrogen gas glows
under the radiation of young, hot stars. The prominent lane of
dust that cuts through the middle of M 8 gave rise to its popular
name, "The Lagoon Nebula." There are also dark globules of denser dust
and gas throughout the nebula, which will probably contract until they
ignite as newborn stars. The cluster of stars on the right side of M 8
is NGC 6530, a young cluster only about 2 million years old. There is some
disagreement about whether this cluster formed out of the vast cloud of M 8,
or simply is located between us and M 8. The Lagoon Nebula is 5200 light
years from earth, and about 140 light years across.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Exposure: ISO 1600, 2 minutes x 37
Telescope: 10" Schmidt-Newtonian, Baader coma corrector