Chaos In The Lagoon

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Behold: M8, the Lagoon Nebula – a vast interstellar cloud where the stars battle to be seen amid the dust and gas. To wit:

…this photogenic nebula is visible even without binoculars towards the constellation of the Archer (Sagittarius). The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colours but the chaos. The glowing gas results from high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas and trace amounts of sulphur, and oxygen gases. The dark dust filaments that lace M8 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. The light from M8 we see today left about 5,000 years ago. Light takes about 50 years to cross this section of M8.

(Image: Zhuoqun Wu, Chilescope)

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3 thoughts on “Chaos In The Lagoon

    1. Cú Chulainn

      It is. But.. the real question is: is the speed of expansion increasing, decreasing or staying much the same. Answer that and you will hold the key to secret of life, the universe and everything..*
      *in the experience of the universe as we perceive it.. actually, we all know the answer but we don’t like thinking about it too much..

  1. Slightly Bemused

    Absolutely beautiful!

    My only problem is for some reason in the gold coloured bits at first I saw a representation of Jar Jar Binks. Admittedly, it is in a galaxy far, far away.

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