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Observing Lagoon Nebula (M8)
The Lagoon Nebula is a giant emission nebula with an H II region located in the constellation Sagittarius. Discovered by Giovanni Hodierna in 1654, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes.
What Lagoon Nebula is
The Lagoon Nebula is a giant emission nebula with an H II region located in the constellation Sagittarius. Discovered by Giovanni Hodierna in 1654, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes.
How to observe it
This target is within reach of a small telescope of 70 mm to 130 mm from a reasonably dark site. More aperture and darker skies show more of its structure.
It lies in the constellation Sagittarius. To find it, learn the constellation first, then star-hop from its brighter stars with a finder or a wide-field eyepiece before switching to more magnification.
Magnification is your telescope's focal length divided by your eyepiece's focal length. For an extended object like this, start low to frame it, then step up in power only if the object takes it. Use the Fit My Telescope tool to see the exact magnification, true field and exit pupil each of your eyepieces gives.
How it looks at the eyepiece
What you see at the eyepiece is fainter and less colourful than a photograph, because the eye takes in light in an instant while a camera builds it up over minutes. Expect a grey glow rather than the vivid colours of an image, and let your eyes dark-adapt for at least twenty minutes to see the most.
Frame it at low to medium power first with a wide true field, then step up the magnification only if the object stays sharp and the sky is steady. The Fit My Telescope tool shows the magnification, true field of view and exit pupil each of your eyepieces gives in your telescope, so you can pick the one that frames the object best.
The object in NASA imagery
NASA has imaged this object. One example in the NASA Image and Video Library is titled Hubble reveals heart of Lagoon Nebula, from GSFC.
Image release date September 22, 2010 To view a video of this image go here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5014452203">www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5014452203</a> Caption: A spectacular new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the heart of the Lagoon Nebula. Seen as a massive cloud of glowing dust and gas, bombarded by the energetic radiation of new stars, this placid name hides a dramatic reality.
NASA imagery is in the public domain. What you see through an eyepiece is fainter and mostly grey, since the eye does not accumulate light the way a long-exposure camera does, but knowing an object's true shape helps you recognise it at the telescope.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Object type | H II region |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Apparent magnitude | 6.0 |
| Catalogue | Messier 8 (M8) |
Object data from Wikidata (CC0) and standard Messier catalogues.
What magnification suits M8?
Open the Fit My Telescope toolSee the true field and exit pupil each eyepiece givesFind telescope eyepiece on eBayaffiliateRelated
Sources: Lagoon Nebula (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA) · Wikidata (CC0) · NASA Image and Video Library: GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001955 (public domain)