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M8 Region |
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Click here to enlarge photograph.
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DESCRIPTION These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the view toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the nebula lower left of center, and colorful M20 at the opper right. The third, NGC 6559, is at the left of M8, separated from the the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula while M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. In this image, the dominant red color of the emission nebulae is due to glowing hydrogen gas energized by the radiation of hot, young stars. The contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid as well as NGC 6559, are due to dust reflected starlight. (Source: APOD) Constellation: Sagittarius - Distance: 5,000 Light Years RA: 18h 06m 50s - DEC: -23h 40m 55s - Magnitude: n/a - Apparent Size: 233' x 155' |
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| Date Taken: 08.09.2004 Telescope: Takahashi FSQ-106N F/5 Focuser: RoboFocus Camera: SBIG STL11000 Mount: Astro Physics AP900GTO Guider: Internal Guider Filter Set: SBIG LRGB |
L: 8 x 600 sec 1x1 R: 6 x 500 sec 1x1 G: 4 x 400 sec 1x1 B: 5 x 450 sec 1x1 Total Exposure Time: 154 Minutes (2.56 Hours) Integrations Dark and Flat frame subtracted. Combined using Russell Croman's Sigma Combine Plug-in for Maxim/DL. Lum data DDP stretched in Maxim DL. RGB color combigned and DDP stretchd in Maxim DL. LRGB assembly, historgram adjustments, sharpending, and color balance using Photoshop CS. |
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