M8 and M14

Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula

Messier 14

I officially have a new favorite summertime Messier object.  Just as the Orion Nebula (M42) rules the winter sky, so does Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula, located in Sagittarius.  This stunning sight is a young stellar cluster where stars are actively forming.  Messier 8 is the bright cluster of stars within the emission nebula.  The nebula was given the name "Lagoon" due to dark, dusky lane running through its center.  You might also notice numerous dark areas scattered through the nebula.  These so-called "dark nebula" are interstellar clouds that are so dense they obscure the light from the emission nebula.  Another gem in this nebula is the extremely bright hourglass shaped nebula to the right side of the lagoon.  Can you spot it?  One final note on M8.  As I was processing the image through my stacking software, I was noticing the star count reported during the stacking process.  Nearly 3,500 individual stars are within this photo.  Stunning.

The second photo is Messier 14 which suffers from having been taken on the same night as M8 and listed here with it.  Though seemingly far less impressive, it contains approximately 1.2 million solar masses and is a beautiful sight in its own right.

Photo Details

Messier 8 with the Lagoon Nebula
July 29, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
19 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 1 hour 57 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop

Messier 14
July 29, 2014
Orion 8" Astrograph on VX Mount
Nikon D3100 Camera - ISO 1600
Baader MPC Mark III Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
Skyglow filter
Autoguider
8 sub-frames at 3.0 minutes/frame
Total Exposure Time = 24 minutes
Image Stacking in Deep Sky Tracker
Image Processing in PhotoShop