M8 The Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is a very interesting Nebula and star cluster in the constellation Saggitarius. It is bright, large and easy to find. Some consider it to be the summertime equivalent of M42 and indeed it qualifies. It is visible to the naked eye from a dark enough site and is visible in binoculars and scopes of any size even in light polluted city skies. There are quite a number of other interesting objects in the same general area of the sky (M16, M17, M20, etc) which is in the general direction of the galactic center. This was the first nebula I imaged with a DSLR and the second DSO. The first object I imaged with a DSLR was M13

Details:

Imaged on 7/1/2005 at 11:03 PM Central Time from Fordland, MO

Equipment:

Camera: Canon 300D (unmodified) at Prime Focus
Imaging Scope: 8” F4.9 Orion Reflector
Guide Scope: None
Guiding: None
Mount: Losmandy CG-11

Image Information:

4 Frames, 45 Seconds each @ ISO 800 + Avg of 5 Darks
No flat or bias frames
Focused Captured and Processed with Images Plus 2.5