Cosmic Psychedelia

Here is an extraordinary flash back in time. Argentinean astronomers Julia Arias (Universidad de La Serena) and Rodolfo Barbá (Universidad de La Serena and ICATE-CONICET) used the Gemini South telescope in Chile to capture this composite image of the Lagoon Nebula. An all-time favorite of skywatchers on both hemispheres, the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, or M8) is among the most striking examples of a stellar nursery in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy. In smaller amateur telescopes, it appears as a pale ghostly glow with a touch of pink. Inside this fuzzy glow is a chaotic environment where new stars are born. It is located in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius in the southern Milky Way. The light to create this psychedelic image took 5,000 years to reach the gigantic Gemini 8-meter mirror. The Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on Gemini South captured the light for the spectacular new image from its perch on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes. Thanks to Heidi Hammel for bringing this wonderful image to our attention. For more information go to: http://www.gemini.edu/node/11631