Editing Lagoon Nebula

{{Short description|Emission nebula in Sagittarius}}
{{Infobox nebula
| name=Lagoon Nebula
| image=VST images the Lagoon Nebula.jpg{{!}}300px
| caption= M8, the Lagoon Nebula
| type= H II region
| epoch = [[J2000]]
| ra = {{RA|18|03|37}}<ref name="simbad">{{cite simbad
  | title=M 8
  | access-date=2006-11-15}}</ref>
| dec = {{DEC|−24|23|12}}<ref name="simbad" />
| dist_ly= 4,100<ref name="Ariasetal2006">{{cite journal
  | author=Arias, J. I.
  | author2=Barbá, R. H.
  | author3=Maíz Apellániz, J.
  | author4=Morrell, N. I. |author-link4=Nidia Morrell
  | author5=Rubio, M.
  | date=2006
  | title=The infrared Hourglass cluster in M8
  | journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]]
  | volume=366  | issue=3  | pages=739–757
  | bibcode=2006MNRAS.366..739A
  | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09829.x
  | doi-access=free
 |arxiv = astro-ph/0506552 | s2cid=13907667
 }}</ref>
| dist_pc =1,250
| appmag_v = 4.6<ref name=Stoyan>{{Cite book |first=Ronald|last=Stoyan|title=Atlas of the Messier Objects: Highlights of the Deep Sky |page=88 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-521-89554-5 }}</ref>
| size_v = 90 × 40 [[Minute of arc|arcmins]]<ref name="Stoyan" />
| constellation = [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]]
| radius_ly = 55 × 20
| absmag_v =
| notes =
| names = [[Sharpless catalog|Sharpless]] 25, [[RCW Catalogue|RCW]] 146, Gum 72<br />''[[Messier object|M]]8 contains:''<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[New General Catalogue|NGC]] 6523, NGC 6530,<ref name="simbad" /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hourglass nebula<ref name="simbad2">{{cite web
  | title=SIMBAD Astronomical Database
  | work=Results for Hourglass Nebula
  | url=http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/Simbad
  | access-date=2006-12-22
}}</ref>
}}
The '''Lagoon Nebula''' (catalogued as '''Messier 8''' or '''M8''', '''[[NGC 5907|NGC]] 6523''', '''Sharpless 25''', '''RCW 146''', and '''[[Gum catalog|Gum]] 72''') is a giant [[interstellar cloud]] in the [[constellation]] [[Sagittarius (constellation)|Sagittarius]]. It is classified as an [[emission nebula]] and has an [[H II region]].

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by [[Giovanni Battista Hodierna|Giovanni Hodierna]] in 1654<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vowler |first1=Faith |last2=Bolles |first2=Dana |title=Messier 8 |url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-8/ |website=NASA Science |access-date=17 March 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250317060239/https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-8/ |archive-date=17 March 2025 |language=en |date=12 September 2024 |quote=M8 was discovered in 1654 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m008.html|title=Messier Object 8|first=Guy McArthur, Hartmut Frommert, Christine|last=Kronberg|website=messier.seds.org|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> and is one of only two star-forming [[nebula]]e faintly visible to the eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with [[binoculars]], it appears as a distinct cloud-like patch with a definite core. Within the nebula is the [[open cluster]] [[NGC 6530]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Handbook of Star-Forming Regions: Volume 2 The Southern Sky|editor=Bo Reipurth|chapter=The Lagoon Nebula and its Vicinity|page=53|author1=N. F. H. Tothill|author2=Marc Gagné|author3=B. Stecklum|author4=M. A. Kenworthy|publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific|date=2008|isbn=978-1-58381-671-4}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==
[[File:M8 Lagoon Nebula - M20 Trifid Nebula.jpg|thumb|left|Lagoon Nebula in HaRGB]]
[[File:Lagoon Nebula in Narrowband filters.png|thumb|left|Lagoon Nebula in SHO by amateur astronomer Buzz Jumaah from Auckland, New Zealand]]
The Lagoon Nebula is estimated to be between 4,000–6,000 [[light-year]]s away from the [[Earth]]. In the sky of Earth, it spans 90' by 40', which translates to an actual dimension of 110 by 50 light years. Like many nebulae, it appears pink in time-exposure color photos but is gray to the eye peering through [[binoculars]] or a [[telescope]], human [[Visual perception|vision]] having poor color sensitivity at low light levels. The nebula contains a number of [[Bok globule]]s (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material), the most prominent of which have been catalogued by [[Edward Emerson Barnard|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 [[Engraved Hourglass Nebula]] in the constellation of [[Musca]]. In 2006, four [[Herbig–Haro object]]s were detected within the Hourglass, providing direct evidence of active [[star formation]] by accretion within it.<ref name="Ariasetal2006" />
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== See also ==
* [[List of Messier objects]]
* [[Lists of nebulae]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Lagoon Nebula}}
* [http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1015/ Breaking Waves in the Stellar Lagoon] — [[ESA]]/[[Hubble Space Telescope|Hubble]] Photo Release
* [http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m008.html Messier 8, SEDS Messier pages]
* [http://www.nightskyinfo.com/archive/lagoon_nebula/ NightSkyInfo.com – M8, the Lagoon Nebula]
* [http://www.petesastrophotography.com/gallery/M8/M8.html Messier 8, Pete's Astrophotography Gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120231159/http://www.petesastrophotography.com/gallery/M8/M8.html |date=2008-11-20 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140517124704/http://www.astrodwarf.com/deep-sky/detail/8387 Messier 8, Lagoon Nebula, Map]
* [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?lagoon+nebula Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): Lagoon Nebula] 
* [http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050803.html APOD: 2005 August 3 - The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula]
* [http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120312.html The Scale of the Universe] ([[Astronomy Picture of the Day]] 2012 March 12)
* {{WikiSky|name=The Lagoon Nebula}}
* [http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1517/ 7/30/2015 Photo release] [[Hubble Space Telescope]]
*[https://www.instagram.com/p/C4nMA7mSl-2/?igsh=bG16NTJ5ZTBodGEx Lagoon Nebula on Instagram]

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[[Category:Carina–Sagittarius Arm]]
[[Category:H II regions]]
[[Category:Messier objects]]
[[Category:NGC objects]]
[[Category:Sagittarius (constellation)]]
[[Category:Sharpless objects]]
[[Category:Astronomical objects discovered in 1654]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Star-forming regions]]