Lagoon Nebula and Trifid Nebula
Designation: M8 / NGC 6523 (Lagoon) – M 20 / NGC 6514 (Trifid)
Hemisphere: Northern
Constellation: Sagittarius
Distance: 5,200 ly (Lagoon) – 9,000 ly (Trifid)
Object type: H II region
Description
The Lagoon nebula is the larger and brighter nebula on the left in this image. This is an emission nebula or an H II region: a star-forming cloud of ionized-hydrogen gas, which likely gave birth to the young open cluster NGC 6530 embedded in the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula is located in the constellation Sagittarius, some 5,200 light years away.
The Trifid Nebula, on the right, is a star-forming region located 9,000 light-years away from Earth, in the same constellation. Toward the core of the nebula lies a group of recently formed, massive, bright stars that release a flood of ultraviolet radiation, which dramatically influences the structure and evolution of the surrounding nebula. The Trifid Nebula was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764.
Equipment
Mount: Celestron Evolution
Main Telescope: William Optics ZS73EDii
Main camera: ZWO ASI183MC-Pro
Main camera filter: Optolong L-eNhance
Acquisition details
Total integration time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Acquisition: SharpCap Pro
Processing: APP – PixInsight
Location: Italy
The Lonely Photon 