rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2662
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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M8 : The Lagoon Nebula.
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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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
Edited by rodelaet (08/15/08 04:10 PM)
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xfile101
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 739
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Now if that isn't beautiful, I don't know the meaning of the word!!  This is stunning, Rony, I envy your artwork to the point of criminality, these sketches are better than astrophotos I tell ya! Thanks for sharing!
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1630
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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Rony, that is just plain beautiful, and with a binoculars with the Window, which I know is a help. My Fuji's are being checked for a problem and my eyes are challenged, but I will use your sketch as a benchmark. Beautiful. Roland
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frank5817
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/13/06
Posts: 3050
Loc: Illinois
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Rony,
I can not get use to how stunning these binocular sketches of yours are.  M-8 is just superb in this binocular sketch. This is such a beautiful part of the heavens and you sketch it like no other. 
Frank 
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GlennLeDrew
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 633
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Beautiful!
I see you've added four other subtle nebulous patches to the north and east of M8. Are they milky way "condensations", or perhaps discrete DSO's? Have you tried to identify them?
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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NerfMonkey
sage
Reged: 06/12/08
Posts: 205
Loc: NE Ohio
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Awesome sketch dude! That's more detail than I saw on the two separate occasions I viewed it using a 12" scope. Keep them coming. I love the really faint blobs of cloudy patches scattered throughout the FOV too; I've never seen that many nebulae (or other objects for that matter) in one field.
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Mike
71 Messiers
155 total DSOs
6 planets
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Acheron
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/07/05
Posts: 765
Loc: Croatia, Velika Gorica
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aaaaa, this is nice!
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I like sketching...
8" F6 Dob - "Betsy"
12" F5 Dob - "Tristac"
25x100 Binos
Messier Catalogue - done
Herschel 400 - 201 more to go
http://www.inet.hr/~vevrhova/english/index
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2662
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Thank guys, for the kind words on my observation.
@ Glenn : I reccon that these brightenings are dense Milky Way star condensations, as I can't find any suitable DSO' candidates.
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3544
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Rony, one of your best. 
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2662
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Michael,
Thank you very much!
Much credit goes to the object, rather than to the sketcher. It is one of the brightest deep-sky objects and it has a respectable angular size, making it a very suitable target for a pair of bino's. 
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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Nick Lloyd
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/06
Posts: 1641
Loc: cincinnati
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A question regarding the binocular used... what is TS 15x70 Marine?
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"The best scope is the one you use." -rcg
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CarlosEH
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/19/05
Posts: 3126
Loc: Pembroke Pines, Broward County...
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Rony,
A beautifully executed observation of the Lagoon Nebula (M8). You have captured this impressive emission nebula in Sagittarius very nicely. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Carlos
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2662
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Hi Nick,
Here is a little report.
These are available in the UK.
These are sold in Germany.
I'm not sure, but chances are that these are all the same make.
Clear skies,
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2662
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Carlos,
Thank you!
I look forward to your observations. 
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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Nick Lloyd
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 10/24/06
Posts: 1641
Loc: cincinnati
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Got it. Thanks!
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"The best scope is the one you use." -rcg
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