Lagoon Nebula (M8) Position and Visibility Tonight
Where is M8 right now?
Twilight begins at 18:48 local time. At that moment, M8 will be 28° above the horizon toward the south.
M8 visibility on 2026-08-24
M8 rise and set timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M8 rise | 14:23 | |
Moonrise, 83.8% illuminated  | 15:29 | 11° |
| Sunset | 17:47 | 26° |
| Civil sunset | 18:16 | 27° |
| Twilight start | 18:48 | 28° |
| M8 transit | 19:01 | 28° |
| Astronomical observing session begins | 19:22 | 28° |
| M8 set | 23:39 | |
| Moonset | 00:52 | -13° |
| Astronomical observing session ends | 02:58 | -37° |
Track M8 Position Throughout the Night
← 24 August 2026 →
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| Altitude | |
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M8 - Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon Nebula (M8) is a giant interstellar cloud in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil in 1747 and included in Messier's catalog in 1764. The nebula is a region of active star formation.
M8 spans about 110 light-years across and is illuminated by the hot young stars it contains. The nebula is approximately 4,100 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.0, making it visible to the naked eye under dark skies and easily seen with binoculars or a small telescope.
M8 — Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite Image
The images come from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under contract with NASA, using data from UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), European Southern Observatory (ESO), National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M8
| Object name | M8 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M8 coordinates | 18.06146, -24.38017 |
| Center coordinates | 18.06146, -24.38017 |
Lagoon Nebula (M8) Passage Through Night
Current position of Lagoon Nebula (M8)
| Time | 14:19 |
| Latitude | 37.3541 |
| Longitude | -121.955 |
| Elevation | -1° |
| Azimuth | 121° |
Annual motion of Lagoon Nebula (M8)
M8 will remain visible until December 5, when it moves too close to the Sun and temporarily disappears from the night sky.
| Date | Mon, 24 August 2026 |
| Twilight start | 19:18 |
| Twilight end | 02:51 |
| Twilight duration | 8h 34m |
| Rise | 14:19 |
| Set | 23:36 |
| Elevation at transit | 28° |
| Transit time | 18:57 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 18h 03m 41s", Dec: -24° 22' 48s |
| Magnitude | 6 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
You can also view detailed visibility information in a table with exact rise, transit, and set times for each date.
Astrometric and Physical Parameters of M8
Coordinates and Visibility
| Right Ascension | 18.06146° |
| Declination | -24.38017° |
| Magnitude | 5.80 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
| Elevation | -0.6° |
| Azimuth | 120.7° |
Data Credits
The deep-sky information on this page comes from the OpenNGC project developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed catalog data for nebulae, galaxies, clusters and other deep-sky objects.
For details or contributions, visit the official repository: OpenNGC GitHub.