Dip your toes in the Lagoon

With New Moon occurring late tonight at 11:02 P.M. EDT, today is an excellent opportunity for yet more deep-sky observing. This morning, we’re dipping into the Lagoon Nebula (M8) in Sagittarius. This stunning nebula is best seen around 3 A.M. local daylight time, when it stands 25° high in the south. 

The Lagoon lies within the diffuse, cloudy glow of the plane of the Milky Way. It sits to the upper right of the Teapot asterism in the Archer, about 5.6° west-northwest of magnitude 2.8 Lambda (λ) Sagittarii, the top of the Teapot’s triangular lid. Glowing at magnitude 4.6 and stretching some 90’ at its widest, the Lagoon is an emission nebula as well as a star-forming region that surrounds the young open star cluster NGC 6523. There’s also a notable dark lane of dust running through the nebula, visible with 10×50 binoculars. However, you’ll want to pull out a telescope to enjoy all the intricate detail the Lagoon has to offer. The brightest inner regions form a distinct hourglass shape, sometimes known separately as the Hourglass Nebula. 

This lovely object is a favorite not only for observers but for astrophotographers as well, and you don’t need a lot of skill and experience to capture it. Even a medium-sized scope will net you gorgeous images with only about 20 minutes of exposure time. 

Sunrise: 5:36 A.M.
Sunset: 8:18 P.M.
Moonrise: 4:46 A.M.
Moonset: 8:24 P.M.
Moon Phase: New
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. local time from the same location.

For a look ahead at more upcoming sky events, check out our full Sky This Week column.