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NGC
6523 in Sagittarius
Type: Open Cluster with Diffuse Nebula
5.200 l.y.
Mag: 4.6
Dim: 90' x 40' |
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One
of the highlights of the Sagittarius Milky Way is the Lagoon Nebula. On
a dark summer night, M8 can be seen with the unaided eye as a small
bright patch in the Southern Milky Way. M8 is even brighter than the
famous Orion Nebula. The view with a pair of binoculars is spectacular.
M8 appears as an elongated glowing cloud of gas, divided by a ‘dark’
river, running from NE to SW. The eastern part of the nebula contains
the open cluster NGC 6530. About a dozen stars can be counted with
15x70 bino’s. The western part of the nebula harbours only a few bright
stars, together with a small bright patch of light, the Hourglass
Nebula. This small patch looks like an out of focus star. It is the
brightest feature of the Lagoon. Larger telescopes will reveal its true
shape. But the Lagoon has more treasures to offer as time goes by. The
patient observer will be rewarded with the view of fainter nebulous
extensions and delicate curls of dark lanes. All together, the Lagoon
Nebula is a very complex diffuse body at a distant of 5200 l-y.
The Lagoon is accompanied by a few other objects. At one and a half
degree NNE of M8, there is M20, the Trifid Nebula. A40’ more to the
north, the subtle glow of the open cluster M21 borders the edge of the
field of view. At 1° SE of M8, I suspected the presence of globular
cluster NGC 6544.
Site : Andratx, Mallorca, Spain ( 39° N )
Date : July 27, 2008
Time : around 23.00UT
Binoculars : TS 15x70 Marine
FOV: 4.4°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 3/5
Transp. : 4/5
Sky brightness : 21.08 magnitudes per square arc second near zenith
(SQM reading).
Nelm : 6.5
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Corel Paint Shop Pro X2, based on a raw pencil
sketch.
(Note: if the sketch does look too dark on your monitor, try to darken
the room.) |
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