Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is
featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2014 September 24
The Lagoon Nebula in Stars Dust and Gas
Image Credit & Copyright:
Remus Chua
(Celestial Portraits)
Explanation:
The large majestic
Lagoon Nebula
is home for many young stars and hot gas.
Spanning 100
light years across while lying only about 5000 light years distant, the
Lagoon Nebula is so big and bright that
it can be
seen without a
telescope toward the
constellation of
Sagittarius.
Many bright stars are visible from
NGC 6530, an
open cluster that
formed in the
nebula only several million years ago.
The greater nebula, also known as
M8 and NGC 6523,
is named "Lagoon" for the band of dust seen to the
left of the open cluster's center.
A bright knot of gas and dust in the
nebula's center is known as the
Hourglass Nebula.
The featured picture is a newly processed panorama of
M8, capturing five times the diameter of the Moon.
Star formation continues in the
Lagoon Nebula as witnessed by the many
globules that exist there.
APOD Wall Calendar:
Nebulas and Star Clusters
Tomorrow's picture: southwest Andromeda
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(
MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (
UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman
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& Michigan Tech. U.
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