The Lagoon Nebula (M 8)

About this Image

Embedded in interstellar dust the bright Lagoon Nebula (M8) lies 5,000 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
The hot, central star, O Herschel 36 is the primary source of the illuminating light for the brightest region in the nebula, called the Hourglass. The glare from this hot star is eroding the clouds by heating the ionized gases within them. This activity drives away violent stellar winds that are tearing into the cool clouds. The whole nebula spans approx. 100 light years.

This image has been taken with H-alpha as red and green/blue filters.
North is up.

Below you see the center crop of the above image in 45/100% size showing the chaotic structures inside this nebula area.

Checkout a version in mapped color here.

Checkout a flash animation blending the normal image with the mapped one: here (press F11 for full screen).