A glowing pink cloud where baby stars are switching on.
Also called: M8.
Huge emission nebula and active star-forming region, visible naked eye as a faint smudge.
Emission nebula: Gas lit up from inside by the young stars forming in it. Every kind of thing there is →
Look in the constellation Sagittarius.
Better placed and higher overhead from the Southern Hemisphere.
Finding it: Near the 'steam' above the Teapot's spout in Sagittarius.
The Planetarium works out where it actually is from your own place and the date — including whether it is above the horizon at all tonight.
A faint, ghostly glow — darker skies show much more.
Honest, not glamorous — why the pictures here are drawn.
On the 100-meter-track scale model of the Milky Way, the Lagoon Nebula would be about 4 meters from the Sun -- roughly the length of a small car. Light takes 4 thousand years to get here from the Lagoon Nebula, so what you are looking at is the Lagoon Nebula as it was 4 thousand years ago.
| Distance from us | 4,100 light-years |
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Nobody flew a tape measure out there. Every number on this page was worked out from the ground:
The Orion Nebulaemission nebulaNaked eyeThe Eagle Nebulaemission nebulaWith effort
The Milky Wayspiral galaxyNaked eye
Proxima CentauristarWith effortAlpha Centauri A & Bbinary star systemNaked eyeSiriusstarNaked eyeClear tonight? The Planetarium will show you what is worth a look. Then just go out.