Diffuse Nebula M8 in Sagittarius

A fine bright diffuse nebula that is visible to the naked eye (from a dark site). The bright star at the right of this nebula is magnitude 5.27 9 Sagittari and is likely the chief illuminator of the nebula. On the left of the nebula (and in it), one can see the stars of the very young open cluster NGC6530. This nebula is likely around 5150 light years away with a size of 60x44 light years.

This area contains other interesting sights. If the mouse is positioned over the image, both M8 and iits companion M20, the Triffid nebula, can be seen. If you then hold down the left mouse button, you will see this area in even more perspective.

Images taken with TEC-140 Telescope mounted on Losmandy G11 mount. Camera used was a Canon EOS20D used at prime focus. (Note, overlays were taken in a piggyback mode with a 200 mm f2.8 lens.)

Fifteen 3 minute exposures dark, flat, and bias compensated; aligned and stacked; background removed and Digitaly Developed in ImagesPlus 2.75 beta 2.