M8

E479068

M8, better known as the Lagoon Nebula, is a large, bright emission nebula and active star-forming region located in the constellation Sagittarius.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
M8 canonical 5

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf H II region
Messier object
NGC object
emission nebula
star-forming region
angularSize approximately 90 by 40 arcminutes
apparentMagnitudeV 6.0
bestSeenIn summer months in the Northern Hemisphere
canBeSeenWith binoculars under dark skies
small telescopes
cataloguedBy Charles Messier
contains Hourglass Nebula
bright emission regions
dark dust lanes
open cluster NGC 6530
young massive stars
declination −24° 23′
discoveredBy Giovanni Battista Hodierna
discoveryDate before 1654
distanceFromEarth about 1,250 parsecs
about 4,100 light-years
excitedBy ultraviolet radiation from massive stars
hasAlternativeName Lagoon Nebula
M 8
Messier 8
NGC 6523
hasColor pinkish-red in optical images
hasNotableFeature large central lagoon-like dark lane
prominent Hourglass Nebula core
hasSpectralType H II emission
isIonizedBy hot O-type stars
isPopularFor amateur astronomy observations
isRegionOf active star formation
locatedIn Milky Way
Sagittarius Arm
locatedInConstellation Sagittarius
messierNumber 8
ngcNumber 6523
observedInWavelength infrared
optical
radio
partOf Sagittarius star-forming complex
rightAscension 18h 03m
visibleFrom Southern Hemisphere
low northern latitudes

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.