Other Names: Sharpless 25, NGC 6523, Lagoon Nebula
Optics: Astro-Physics 305mm F/3.8 Riccardi-Honders Astrograph
Mount: Paramount ME using The SkyX Pro
Camera: FLI ML16200
Filters: Chroma Ha 8nm, OIII 8nm, SII 8nm
Exposure: 820 Mins or 13 2/3 hours, [10x 1200s Ha, 15x 1200s OIII, 16x 1200s SII], Binned 1x1
Accessories: Auto guided with SXAO & Starlight Xpress Lodestar. FLI Atlas focuser using FMv4
Location: Southern, IN
Date: Taken over several nights from July 13th to July 23rd, 2023
Notes: Image acquisition with TSXPro using MaxPilote automation software.

All Processing completed using PixInsight and the following steps:

- WBPP/DBE/Linear Fit/PixelMath SHO/BlurXT/StarXT/Multiscale Linear Transformation/NoiseXT/Color Masks/Histogram & Curves/Add Stars back using PixelMath/Background Neutralization/Crop

Calibrated w/18 Darks, 100 Bias, 10 Flats of each filter using a flat panel. CCD temperature was -20C. Image was taken from my backyard Observatory.

The Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as Messier 8 or M8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25, RCW 146, and Gum 72) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an emission nebula and as an H II region.

The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by Giovanni Hodierna before 1654[5] and is one of only two star-forming nebulae 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.[6]