Astronomical observations #18 : Lagoon Nebula (M8)
Welcome to the next part of my cycle dedicated to amateur observations of the night sky. Today, another object of deep sky, which is worth seeing through good binoculars or a telescope. M8, or the Lagoon Nebula, is a large object in the sky that occupies as much as 3 discs of the moon! Why don't we see it with the naked eye? Because, despite the high brightness, this object is a giant and its surface brightness is very small, which in turn blends with the bright sky that we have in most suburban areas.
Photo Nebula Lagoon with long exposure time (The VLT Survey Telescope)
The discoverer of the nebula around 1850 was Giovanni Battista Hodierna. M8 is an object located in the southern sky in the constellation of Sagittarius. This is one of the most beautiful nebulae of the sky, but only the Great Orion Nebula is inferior. In the northern hemisphere, the M8 is visible low above the southern horizon on sunny summer nights without the moon. The object's brightness is +5.8 magnitude and the angular dimensions in the sky are 90 X 40 arc minutes. Under a good dark sky, the 7 X 50 binoculars will reveal the size of the M8. It looks like a bright spot filled with stars and is so large that we only see parts of the telescope in the telescope (the whole is out of sight). However, the telescope will show much more details than binoculars. Using the smallest magnification of around 30X, an instrument with a diameter of 6 inches under a dark, rural sky will show an M8 picture as per the simulation below. The Lagoon Center is a place where new stars are born. You can use a larger magnification to get a better look at the M8 heart itself, which is filled with dozens of stars.
Simulation of the Lagoon Nebula view in an amateur telescope
The Lagoon Nebula is about 41,000 light years away. This is one of the largest stellar incubators known to us. From the nebular matter all the time new stars are created or created (we have a view from 4100 years ago). As you can see, the M8 is another facility for which it is worth investing in a telescope for the summer. I can't wait for the next summer, even though the last one has just ended. I encourage everyone interested in the night sky to go out of town on a moonless night. The starry sky awaits you every cloudless night. I hope these tips will help you. To hear in the next part of Astronomical observation.
Greetings to lovers of Astronomy!
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