Object	M8 / NGC 6523
Scale	5.11 arc-secs/pixel
North angle	-15.61°
Date	09/30/00
Location	Lockwood Valley, CA
Equipment	TeleVue 101, ST7E, GM8
Processing	5 X 40 Sec. exp. sum, Gamma Stretch an DDP, Photoshop combine, resize 60%
Notes	Nice detail, the sum of the five exposures still is a little noisy, 50% ea an layers over the sum of five gave smoother results. Overlay might have provided a little better contrast.
Background	M8/NGC6523, also known as the Lagoon or hourglass nebula, lies in the constellation Sagittarius. M8 is an emission nebula with a brightness of magnitude 6. Distances are estimated between 4850 and 6500, most literature that I have read specify 5200. I was amazed at how large this object is, most probably due to our proximity. I have read that it is 3 times the diameter of the full moon (wide), if that is the case, I am only depicting a third of this object. This object features dark nebula known as globules, dark little areas that look like wholes in the nebula. This is matter that is condensing to form new stars and infact is so dense it is blocking the light. The bright area to the left of center is the star formation region that is providing the majority of the illumination, lighting up the surrounding stellar material. This photo also contains the "bonus" object NGC 6530, a very open sparse star cluster (to the right of center). This star cluster probably lies just in front of M8 and contains 50-100 stars.