Pan STARRS Across the Lagoon
Explanation:
Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and
dark dust clouds inhabit the
turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula.
Also known as M8, the bright star forming region is about
5,000 light-years distant.
But it still makes for a popular stop on
telescopic tours of
the constellation Sagittarius, toward the center
of our Milky Way Galaxy.
Dominated by the telltale red emission of ionized hydrogen atoms
recombining with stripped electrons,
this stunning view of the Lagoon is over 100 light-years across.
At its center, the bright, compact, hourglass
shape is gas ionized and sculpted by energetic radiation
and extreme stellar winds from a
massive young star.
In fact, the many bright stars of open cluster NGC 6530 drift
within the nebula,
just formed in
the Lagoon several million years ago.
Broadband image data from
Pan-STARRS
(Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System)
was combined with narrowband data from amateur telescopes to create this
wide and deep portrait of the Lagoon Nebula.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
