Messier 8 - Lagoon Nebula in wide field

Messier 8 - Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, and as NGC 6523) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as a H II region. It was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654.[1] The Lagoon Nebula is so big and bright that it can be seen without a telescope toward the constellation of Sagittarius.[2] Seen with binoculars, it appears as a distinct oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. A fragile star cluster appears superimposed on it.[1]

In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulas, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through binoculars or a telescope, human vision having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula
contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by E. E. Barnard as B88, B89 and B296. It also includes a funnel-like or tornado-like structure caused by a hot O-type star that emanates ultraviolet light, heating and ionizing gases on the surface of the nebula. The Lagoon Nebula also contains at its centre a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula (so named by John Herschel), which should not be confused with the better known Hourglass Nebula in the constellation of Musca. In 2006 the first four Herbig–Haro objects were detected within the Hourglass, also including HH 870. This provides the first direct evidence of active star formation by accretion within it.[1]


[1] wikipedia
[2] Nasa APOD

This picture was taken in 7th Meeting Brazilian of Astrophotography in July, 2014 - Alto Paraíso de Goiás - Chapada dos Veadeiros - Goiás - Brazil.

Technical data
ISO 800, total exposure of 02h35m (31 subs), darks, flats and biases applied.

Equipment
- Equatorial Mount Orion Atlas EQ-G
- Auto guided with Orion Starshoot and Refractor Orion 80mm
- Refractor Triplet Meade 80mm APO F6
- Canon DSLR 500D modded with Astrodon Filter
- Astro-Tech Field Flattener 2"

Software
Capture: BackyardEOS
Processing: PixInsight 1.8 and Adobe Photoshop CS5

Ps: Stars's spikes were created by crossed wire in front of refractor!