M 8

As often for diffuse nebulae, the cluster of young stars which has formed from the nebula's material was discovered first, in this case the young open cluster NGC 6530 in the Eastern half of M8 was discovered by Flamsteed about 1680, and again seen by De Cheseaux in 1746, before Le Gentil found the nebula in 1747. According to Kenneth Glyn Jones, the Lagoon Nebula has an apparent extension of 90x40 minutes of arc, which is 3 x 1 1/3 the apparent diameter of the full moon, and corresponds to about 160x70 light years if our distance of 6000 light years should be correct, which is a bit uncertain; newer sources have 4850 (Glyn Jones) to 6500.

One of the remarkable features of the Lagoon Nebula is the presence of dark nebulae known as 'globules' (Burnham) [see expanded image] which are collapsing protostellar clouds with diameters of about 10,000 AU (Astronomical Units). They can also be seen, along with other detail, in the DSSM image of M8.

More images of M8

M8 is situated in a very conspicuous field of the Sagittarius Milky Way. Another capture from the DSSM shows the Lagoon Nebula M8 and Trifid Nebula M20, plus the rich star field and faint nebulae surrounding them. We have also more images of the region of M8 and M20.

Bill Arnett's Lagoon Nebula M8 photo page, info page.

Right ascension	18 : 1.6 (hours : minutes)
Declination	-24 : 20 (degrees : minutes)
Distance	6.5 (light-years*10^3)
Visual magnitude	6.0