Astronomy Fun Fact:On a really dark summer night (moonless!) you might catch a glimpse of the Lagoon Nebula with the naked eye! Of course, you need to live farther south than 55 degrees north to have M8 above the horizon enough to see it clearly, and to avoid summer twilight. Here at 45 degrees north, I can pick out M8 at some point during the hours of darkness (using binoculars a lot of the time) anywhere from the beginning of March to the middle of October. Of course it's low in the sky and sets soon after darkness now.
For those of you who love astronomy or just want to learn more, or your kids do, I can recommend a program I use. It's called Starry Night. It's available in 3 levels: Beginner, Backyard, and Pro. I use Pro. Mom uses Backyard. Product comparison chart HERE . No, I don't have anything to do with the manufacture or marketing of the software. No, I don't work for Space.com Software. I just like their product.
Great picture, I'll check out starry night. Good job APOD!
I just love the pictures.
