Lagoon fog

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Emission nebula
Data of the Lagoon Nebula

Image of the Lagoon Nebula with the MPG / ESO 2.2 m telescope

Image of the Lagoon Nebula with the MPG / ESO 2.2 m telescope
AladinLite
Constellation Sagittarius
Position
equinox :  J2000.0 , epoch : J2000.0
Right ascension 18 h 03.6 m
declination −24 ° 23 ′
Appearance

Apparent brightness  (visual) 6.0 likes  
Angular expansion approx. 90 ′ × 35 ′ 
Ionizing source
designation NGC 6530 
Type Star clusters 
Physical data

Affiliation Milky Way 
Redshift 0.000013 
Radial velocity 3.8 km / s 
distance  5200 ly
(1600 pc )
history

discovery Giovanni Battista Hodierna
Date of discovery before 1654
Catalog names
 NGC  6523, 6526, 6530 •  M  8 • OCISM 1 • W 29

The Lagoon Nebula (also called Messier 8 or NGC 6523 ) is a structure of emission and reflection nebula with a brightness of 6.0 mag and an angular extent of about 90 ′ × 35 ′ in the constellation Sagittarius . It is about 5200 light years from the sun .

morphology

The Lagoon Nebula is a large star formation area and contains several dark protostellar clouds, known as globules , with a diameter of around 10,000 AU . In the optically brightest part of the mist is a region, which because of their appearance hourglass fog is called (not to be confused with the also hourglass mist said planetary mist MyCn 18).

In the center of the nebula is the young open star cluster NGC 6530, which was created from the material of the nebula and is now making it glow.

observation

Amateur shot of the lagoon nebula

The Lagoon Nebula is the second brightest gas nebula visible in Central Europe and an easy-to-find binoculars object.

discovery

The nebula was discovered in 1654 by Giovanni Battista Hodierna and rediscovered in 1680 independently by John Flamsteed , who is also credited with the discovery of the open star cluster NGC 6530 inside . In 1746 it was described by Jean-Philippe de Chéseaux and in 1747 by Guillaume Le Gentil . Wilhelm Herschel's observations in 1784 led to further cataloging; the southernmost part under NGC 6526 , the irregular eastern part under NGC 6533 .

Web links

Commons : Lagoon Nebula  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b SIMBAD
  2. ↑ a b c Messier 8 at Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
  3. ↑ Mike Inglis (2017): Astronomy of the Milky Way: The Observer's Guide to the Northern Sky , p. 29
  4. ^ Courtney Seligman: New General Catalog Objects: NGC 6500 - 6549. Retrieved August 31, 2016 (English, NGC 6526).
  5. ^ Courtney Seligman: New General Catalog Objects: NGC 6500 - 6549. Retrieved September 7, 2016 (English, NGC 6533).