Object: M8

M 8, the Lagoon Nebula, is a giant interstellar gas cloud located 6500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. Measuring 60 light years across, this bright nebula is a naked eye object as observed from dark-sky locations.

This image was taken from the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, where M 8 is positioned nearly overhead as it transits the meridian during its nocturnal trip across Southern winter skies. Composed as a 2-pane mosaic, the total exposure time for this image was 11 hours 30 minutes.

  • Team: Dave Jurasevich and Howard Hedlund
  • Filters: Tru-Balance 5nm Hydrogen-Alpha
  • Exposure: 2 pane mosaic Ha 2 x 17 x 1200 sec 1x1 bin + Ha 9 x 60 sec 1x1 core
  • Date: June 2015
  • Software: CCDStack 2, Photoshop CS5