Lagoon Nebula

Photo: Pat Murphy’s archive (80k jpg)

NGC 6523

Lagoon Nebula

M 8

  • RA 18:04; Dec -24:23 (Sagittarius)
  • Distance: 4500 ly
  • Type: emission
  • The Lagoon Nebula gets its name from the dark band of dust separating its two bright sections.
  • The Lagoon Nebula is much larger and brighter than its neighbor the Trifid Nebula; it is even visible with the naked eye on a dark night.
  • The open cluster enveloped by the Lagoon Nebula is known as NGC 6530 which contains several dozen hot new stars just formed out of this nebula.

PM 80k jpg

(Hourglass Nebula)
AAT html
(David Malin)

UKS html
(David Malin)

SEDS 136k gif
(caption)

SEDS 28k gif
(caption)

SEDS 41k gif

UO 65k gif
(B&W)

UO 92k gif
(caption)

Bill Arnett1995 April 6