Object Information                                            Imaging Details

The Trifid nebula, M 20, and the Lagoon nebula, M8, are two picturesque HII regions located in Sagittarius. M20 shows both emission and reflection nebulosity. Hydrogen gas is ionized by stars within NGC 6514 to cause the red emission nebulosity. Dust lanes divide the nebula into three parts. The blue reflection nebula surrounds the emission nebula.

M8, the Lagoon Nebula is easily visible thru binoculars from a dark sky site. It's located about 4000 light-years away in the Sagittarius arm. Several O and B class stars illuminate the nebula.

The image was acquired at the 2016 Texas Star Party near Fort Davis, Texas. Color data was obtained using a modified Canon T2i and a 300mm lens. Ha data was obtained using an Atik 460 with a 200mm Canon f/2.4 lens.

The map on the upper right shows the position of the nebula to scale. Clicking the preview image (above) will bring up a larger, higher resolution image.

Telescope:

Canon 300mm f/4 lens and 200mm f/2.8 lens

Canon - 4-minute subs @ iso 1600; Atik - 10-minute (-10°) subs.