Portal:Astronomy/Picture/Week 43 2008
Appearance
< Portal:Astronomy | Picture
![Lagoon Nebula (right-click to enlarge).](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/M008_NGC_6523_Lagoon_nebula.jpg/240px-M008_NGC_6523_Lagoon_nebula.jpg)
The center of the Lagoon Nebula is a whirlwind of spectacular star formation. The tremendously bright nearby star, Hershel 36, lights the area. Vast walls of dust hide and redden other hot young stars. This picture, spanning about 5 light years, was taken in 1995 by the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. The Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, lies about 5000 light years distant toward the constellation of Sagittarius.