Pink Lagoon

Ribbons of warm gas and blobs of cold dust highlight this view of the Lagoon Nebula, M8, from the European Southern Observatory. The nebula, which is about 5,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Sagittarius, is a stellar nursery that has given birth to scores of stars, with more taking shape today. The new stars are born in the dark blobs, where the gas and dust are cold enough to collapse under their mutual gravitational attraction. The pink ribbons are clouds of hydrogen gas that glow when they are zapped by radiation from hot stars. Under dark skies, the nebula is faintly visible to the unaided eye, although binoculars or a small telescope provide a better view. This image spans about three times the width of the Moon. [ESO]