Messier 8 The Lagoon Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius

 

Messier 8 - data credit: PIRATE robotic telescope Mount Teide telescope.org Open Science Observatories Open University. Image processing credit Pip Stakkert at the Jodrell Plank Observatory

"Messier 8 never rises high enough at our location in the UK for us to use our large refractor to observe or image this interesting astronomical object. The data for this image was obtained some years ago when we could use the internet to point the large 24 inch PIRATE robotic telescope on Mount Teide at targets we selected in Lowestoft. Pristine unpolluted skies, an excellent camera and a large aperture telescope certainly pay dividends when it comes to astrophotography. Pip has been able to apply modern AI based software to process this old data and obtain the best image possible from it.

  The Lagoon  Nebula is a stellar nursery in which dark clouds of gravitationally collapsing molecular gas and dust ,'Bok Globules', can be seen. Within these cocoon like clouds multiple star systems are being born.  M8 is estimated to be between 4000 and 6000 light years distant and covers an area of sky some 100 x 50 light years in extent. M8 is designated an emission nebula  and has a bright HII (ionised Hydrogen gas molecular cloud) at its centre shown orange in our image. The young open star cluster NGC6530 may be seen to the left of the HII region".- Kurt Thrust current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

A crop enlargement taken from the M8 image to show a Bok Globule