Lagoon Nebula, Trifid Nebula and the NGC 6559 Complex

The summer Milky Way brings with it the bright Messier nebulas of M8 (Lagoon) and M20 (Trifid) as well as the NGC 6559 Nebula Complex in Sagittarius. The Lagoon takes its name from the dark nebula that bisects the nebula. The Trifid is a combined emission and reflection nebula that is trisected by the dark nebula, Barnard 85. The NGC 6559 complex (upper left nebulosity) consists of the emission and reflection nebulas of IC1275, IC1274, IC4681 and IC4685. The meandering dark nebula of Barnard 303 also snakes it’s way though the complex. 5nm Hydrogen-alpha filter, Total= 48 minutes, 8 x 360-second unbinned sub frames. Takahashi Epsilon -180 – f/2.8, SBIG STL6303E CCD camera, ATMoB Clubhouse, Westford, MA. 03 July 2010.