The Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, NGC 6523, Sharpless 25) and the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20, NGC 6514) in the constellation Sagittarius, imaged together in a single wide field.

M8 is a giant emission nebula and H II region spanning roughly 110 by 50 light-years, located about 4,100 light-years away. It is an active star-forming region and hosts the young open cluster NGC 6530. Along with the Orion Nebula, it is one of only two star-forming nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes.

M20 is an unusual object combining an emission nebula (the reddish H II region), a reflection nebula (the blue, dust-scattered northern portion) and a dark nebula (the dust lanes catalogued as Barnard 85 that divide it into three lobes, giving the object its name), together with an associated open cluster. Distance estimates vary; The Sky Catalogue 2000.0 gives about 5,200 light-years.

The supernova remnant W28 (G6.4-0.1) lies in the same field, near M20. It is a mixed-morphology remnant interacting with surrounding molecular clouds, with an estimated age of a few tens of thousands of years. Its optical counterpart is extremely faint and only marginally recorded here.

Acquisition: Rockwood, Texas, USA (Starfront Observatories). Celestron RASA 8, ASI2600MC PRO, ZWO AM5. Antlia V-Pro Luminance 2" (RGB) 112 x 180s + IDAS NBZ-II 2" (Ha/OIII) 105 x 180s, total 10h51m. Calibration: offsets and flats. Dates: 17, 19, 20 and 21 June 2026.