M8 Lagoon Nebula
M8 is an emission nebula and HII region about 5,000 light-years from Earth, stretching 100 light-years across. It is visually quite exciting since it is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, is surrounded by the Milky Way, and has open cluster NGC 6530 in front of it. The small dark blobs in the nebula are Bok globules, clouds of protostellar material. The bright region near the center, often called the Hourglass portion of M8, has been identified as an active star-forming area. North is at the top.

Scope/Mount: Orion ED80 Doublet Refractor with AstroTech AT2FF Field Flattener, Celestron CI-700 Mount
Camera: Orion StarShoot Pro V2 one-shot color
Guiding: QHY5L-IIM through Orion Deluxe OAG, PHD guiding software
Exposure: (24) 10 min
Software: Nebulosity, PhotoShop CS2
Comment: 07-22-2017, Tierra del Sol, CA, good conditions.