[Deep Sky] Submission 143331 – Amit Kamble
M8 aka The Lagoon Nebula - 143331
By: Amit Kamble | exploringnightsky
https://nzastrocompetition.com/new-zealand-astrophotography-competition-2024/deep-sky/?cid=322&cac=submission&ctx=page&cm=1&sid=143331
You can look at it and tell why it's called the lagoon nebula. This Hubble palette image shows the brilliant blue center, pretty much what a lagoon in real life would look like. I'd say after The Orion Nebula, this was one of the hardest images to process because of the bright core. I did take multiple attempts and merged multiple images processed differently to show the core and the outer regions. Considering its distance to the earth which is estimated to be between 4,000–6,000 light-years away from Earth, The lagoon nebula is one of the two star-forming regions visible to the naked eye. The nebula contains a number of Bok globules (dark, collapsing clouds of protostellar material). At its center is a structure known as the Hourglass Nebula, home to active star formation.
Finished since 15 days, 18 hours and 21 minutes.