The Hourglass in M8, with Hubble comparison

[SkyViking]

Hi All, I have never really made an image of the Lagoon Nebula since it is way too big for my tiny chip (it would require something like a 30 panel mosaic :lol:), but I thought I'd give the Hourglass in the centre a go.
I managed to get an image of this interesting part of the nebula with fairly good resolution.

About the Hourglass Nebula:
Deep in the heart of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8) lies the bright Hourglass Nebula which is a distinctly shaped patch of nebulosity framed by tornado-like structures half a light-year in length. The star immediately to the left of the Hourglass is Herschel 36 which is thought to be responsible for most of the illumination in the area. The strong stellar winds are tearing the molecular clouds apart and is it believed that the difference in temperature between the hot surface of the clouds and their cold interior, combined with the pressure from the stellar winds is producing strong horizontal shear which twists the clouds into tornado-like shapes. The most prominent of these twisters, visible in the Hubble image, form the top edge of the hourglass and it can clearly be seen in the above image which is a stack of 136 exposures of 10.5 seconds each. Also visible throughout the image are many of the newborn stars that light up the rest of the Lagoon Nebula.

Image is here:
http://www.pbase.com/rolfolsen/image/136878355/original

Image details:
Taken 31/07/2011
136 x 10.5s, no filters
10 Newtonian f/5
ToUCam Pro SC1

Hope you enjoy. Comments/critique is welcome.

Regards,
Rolf

[iceman]

Nice work Rolf, I always look forward to clicking on the thread when I see you've posted something new and unique!

[strongmanmike]

Nice work!

I agree with Mike, I like seeing your posts and can't wait to open them to see what detailed thing you will have for our eyes this time :thumbsup:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

You pick the tough ones Rolf. Nice going.

[John Hothersall]

Thats an interesting HiRes and those small pixels produce good detail in an area not seen close in often.

John.

[jase]

More extreme imaging. Love it! Well done Rolf. The resolution you've obtained is impressive.

[Dennis]

Another exotic image from your low-tech ToUcam. I shudder to think of what objects you will go for when you get a cooled CCD married to your scope and talent!:)

Lovely colour and tones for such short exposures.

Cheers

Dennis

[Ross G]

A great closeup Rolf...so unique.


Thanks.


Ross.

[SkyViking]

Thanks a lot Mike, that's very nice to hear :)


Thank you Mike :) I really enjoy going after the more unusual targets.


Thanks Paul :) This one was not that tough but I thought I'd like to show a different angle of a well known target. And when it comes to these extended nebulae that's really all I can hope to do with my little camera.


Thank you John, yes the ToUCam gives very good resolution indeed. I'd like to have more nebula brightness in these images but that'll have to wait until I get a more sensitive camera.


Thanks Jase :) I'm glad you liked it.


Thank you very much Dennis :)
I certainly look forward to a larger and more sensitive camera, probably at the end of the year now. And yes, rest assured it'll be busy documenting the obscure corners of the Universe once I get hold of it :lol:.


Thanks Ross, I tried to go for a different view of this famous nebula :).