Astronomy

Wade into the Lagoon Nebula: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher | Astronomy.com

June 26, 2023

The Lagoon Nebula is a basic object that appears nice in binoculars or a telescope.

The Lagoon Nebula, Messier object 8 (M8) or NGC 6523, within the constellation of Sagittarius, as seen by the Kitt Peak 4-meter Mayall telescope in 1973. Credit score: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Hello people, tune in each week of 2023 for one of the best in astronomy from Astronomy Editor Dave Eicher, delivered to you by Celestron. Dave’s weekly video sequence will cowl all the newest sky occasions, scientific outcomes, overviews of cosmic mysteries, and extra!

This week, we’re speaking concerning the Lagoon Nebula, additionally cataloged as Messier 8 (M8) — one of many nice deep-sky objects of the summer season Milky Way. About 4,100 light-years distant in Sagittarius, it lies roughly within the course of the middle of the galaxy.

The thing was found in in 1654 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. Nevertheless, it’s possible that what caught his eye was not the recent glowing fuel that we will see simply in trendy devices, however the open cluster of stars, NGC 6530.

The nebula is stuffed with ribbons of star-forming dust, together with one significantly broad band that cuts by means of the nebula, giving it the looks of its namesake — a lagoon minimize off from a bigger physique of water. This makes it an attractive goal for skilled in addition to novice astronomers: Lately, the Hubble House Telescope solid its eye on the Lagoon in search of proplyds, nascent planetary programs within the first levels of formation.