The Lagoon Nebula, also known as the Hourglass Nebula, is a bright emission nebula which lies about 5,000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Within the Lagoon Nebula there are several collapsing clouds of gas and dust where new stars are forming. The brightest area is a region of very active star formation.

This false-color Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) image is a composite of mid and far-infrared wavebands centered at 8.3, 12.1, and 21.3 microns. The image covers about 4.5 x 4.5 degrees in the sky.

Image credits: MSX/IPAC/NASA