Center of Lagoon Nebula (M8) photographed from Los Angeles
The lagoon-shape center of M8 giving its popular name.  This is a cropped photo.
file: M8-20sX16AP130f6P2core-72023cr2aa.jpg
Click here for full resolution image

Photographic Data
telescope:
Astro-Physics 130 mm (5.1-inch) f/6 triplet refractor (FL= 877 mm)
 

mount:
ZWO AM5 harmonic/strainwave
Mount Guide Settings in Asiair Plus:
Calibrate Step: 5,000 ms
Dec Duration: 3,000 ms
RA Duration: 2,000 ms
Aggression: 50% for both RA & Dec
Exposure time for guiding: 1 second

guiding:
SVBony 60 mm f/4 guidescope (fl=240 mm)
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI662MC color planetary camera (2.97 micron pixels)

controller/computer
ZWO Asiair Plus via WiFi to Samsung S7+ tablet
.
imaging camera:
ZWO ASI533MC-Pro one-shot color astro-camera cooled to 14-degrees F with Optolong L-eNhanced nebular filter
.
exposures:
120 seconds X 16 (32-minutes)

 

filter:
Optolong L-eNhance dual band nebular filter

processing
Stacked in Asiair Plus and cropped and post-processed in Adobe Photoshop Elements
.
photographic site:
West Los Angeles
http://mstecker.com/pages/chhouses_fp.htm
(Bortle 9 light polluted sky)



Same center of Lagoon Nebula (M8) photo from above photographed from Los Angeles, but post-processed with
GraXpert to reduce noise and
Photoshop Elements to increase color saturation
file: M8-20sX16AP130f6P2core-72023cr2aa-GXPdnd8-a2.jpg
Click here for full resolution image
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M8 cropped  core shot from Pinon Pines Estates (JFO) with Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P
The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is an emission nebula located in Sagittarius approximately 5,000 light-years from Earth. It spans 110 by 50 light-years (about 1.5 by 0.6 degrees). It features several distinctive structures, including dark Bok globules and the small-bright "Hourglass Nebula" (at 4 o'clock from the central bright star). It is thought to be formed by ultraviolet radiation from a hot O-type stars and the darker curved area around the central bulge giving the nebula its Lagoon nickname. This is a cropped image of its central area and is a joint project of James Foster and Michael Stecker using a 10-inch f/4 Newtonian telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro color camera and 44-minute exposure.
file: M8_44minEXPnewt10in3crcen.jpg
Click here for full resolution image

Photographic Data
telescope:
Sky-Watcher Quattro 250P
(10-inch f/4 Newtonian telescope with coma corrector)
FL= 1,000 mm

mount:
iOptron Cem60

guiding off-axis

imaging cameras:
ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro color astrocamera

exposures:
26 X 100 sec
total exposure time: 44 minutes

.filter:
none

photographic site:
James Foster observatory at Pinon Pines Estates (Frazier Park) California
(Bortle 4 at 5,500 ft elevstion)