Messier 8 (NGC 6523 – The Lagoon Nebula)

Messier 8 (NGC 6523), also known as the Lagoon Nebula, is a vast emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius. This bright star-forming region, with its prominent dark lanes and glowing hydrogen clouds, lies near the center of our Milky Way and is one of the most striking deep-sky objects visible from southern latitudes.

I have imaged the Lagoon Nebula three times during my holidays in Namibia, most recently in 2008 during a stay at the Tivoli Astrofarm.

Data calibration and registration were carried out using DeepSkyStacker, while the final image processing was performed in PixInsight.

The result was as follows:

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The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Date: 2008
• Location: Tivoli, Namibia
• Telescope: Pentax 75
• Focal length [mm]: 500
• Focal ratio: 6.7
• Mount: Vixen Atlux
• Camera: Canon 300 Da
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 60
• Resolution: 3.04″/px

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In 2006 I also imaged Messier 8 during my first stay at the astrofarm Tivoli.

Data calibration and registration was done with DeepSkyStacker, the the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:

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The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Date: 2006
• Location: Tivoli, Namibia
• Telescope: Rubinar lens
• Focal length [mm]: 500
• Focal ratio: 5.6
• Mount: Vixen Atlux
• Camera: Canon 300 Da
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 33
• Resolution: 3.12″/px

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The first time I imaged Messier 8 was during my first stay in Namibia at the astrofarm Hakos.

Data calibration and registration was done with DeepSkyStacker, the the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:

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The images were taken with the following equipment:

• Date: 2005
• Location: Hakos, Namibia
• Telescope: Tamron 28-300mm lens
• Focal length [mm]: 300
• Focal ratio: 6.3
• Mount: Liebscher
• Camera: Canon 300 Da
• Filter: OSC
• Exposure time [min]: 20
• Resolution: 5.36″/px

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