Nebulae

Messier 8 - The Lagoon Nebula

With this image I wanted to show the intricate patterns of the Lagoon Nebula in detail, including the subtle colour variations among its many swirling filaments of glowing gas.
The Lagoon Nebula, also known as Messier 8 or NGC 6523, is a large emission nebula located about 4,000-6,000 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. It is one of only a few such nebulae to be visible to the naked eye. This enormous interstellar cloud is some 110 light years across and is home to numerous dark Bok globules. These are dense collapsing patches of gas and dust where new stars are born. These young stars are not visible until their radiation pressure blows off the surrounding cloud. Bright young O type stars that have already emerged from their cocoons cause the nebula's gas to glow with a distinct magenta colour arising from ionized Hydrogen atoms.

Image details:
Date: 4 nights, September 2020
Exposure: HaLRGB: 315:171:45:40:40, total 10 hours 11 mins @ -25C
Telescope: Homebuilt 12.5" f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian
Camera: QSI 683wsg with Lodestar guider
Filters: Astrodon LRGB E-Series Gen 2 and 3nm H-Alpha
Taken from my observatory in Auckland, New Zealand

HaLRGB