Messier 8 the Lagoon Nebula is the large emission nebula at the bottom of this image, being around three full moons in length. It is 4,000-6,000 lightyears distant and 110x50 lightyears in actual size.
Messier 20 towards the top right is also known as the Trifid Nebula, because of its three-lobed appearance visually. It is a complex object, consisting of a star cluster as well as red emission, blue reflection and dark nebulosity. It is around 4100 lightyears away and 40 lightyears across.
There is a third Messier object in this image, the small open star cluster to the upper left of M20. This is Messier 21.
This LRGBHa image is the result of 1h15m of remote data capture from New South Wales, in May 2021. An SBIG STX-16803 CCD camera was used, through a 130mm Takahashi refractor.
Date: 16/05/2021
Photographer: Graham Wilcock
