ScienceDownEast | ScienceDownEast Astrophotography | Nebulae | M8 Lagoon Nebula | NGC 6523 Lagoon Nebula
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The earliest observations of this object were made by Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. He classified it as "nebulosa" of intermediate brightness. It was independently noted as a "nebula" by John Flamsteed around 1680. The object was again seen by Philippe Loys de Chéseaux in 1746, who could resolve some stars and consequently classified it as a cluster. One year later, in 1747, it was observed by Guillaume Le Gentil, who found the nebula along with the cluster. Abbe Nicholas Louis de la Caille cataloged it in his 1751-52 compilation. When Charles Messier cataloged this object in 1764, he primarily described the cluster, and mentioned the nebula separately as surrounding the star 9 Sagittarii. Although most sources identify only the nebula as "Messier 8", it is clear from Messier's description that he found both the nebula and the cluster.
Total image time was 80 minutes.
| Exposure | 8 x 10 min. | |||||||||
| Gain | 100 | |||||||||
| Camera | ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 x 4168] | |||||||||
| Optics | 120mm Skywatcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount | |||||||||
| Guiding | ToupTek GPM462M using Phd2 with a 400mm guide scope. Average 20 min sub GuideRMS ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 using 0.5 sec exposures. | |||||||||
| Controller | Kstars on MeLe Quieter 4C | |||||||||
| Filter | Triad Quad Ultra | |||||||||
| Location | St. Croix Observatory, Nova Scotia. | |||||||||
| Date | 2025-09-21 | |||||||||
| Processing | Processed in PixInsight. | |||||||||
| PixInsight Processing |
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