The faintest stars visible in this image are greater than magnitude 17.5. M-8 is also an easy object for binoculars and small amateur telescopes, but does requires clear and dry, excellent observing conditions. This may be a somewhat infrequent occurrence for the summer night skies in the Northeast. The faintest stars visible in this image are greater than magnitude 17.5. These lanes, which are clearly seen converging in a V at the left side of the image, are known to consist of clouds of interstellar dark matter.
Emission nebulae are the nurseries for new star formation.
The dark spots within the nebula are known as BOK Globules and are considered the most likely location for the actual birthplaces of stars. In amateur telescopes of 200mm aperture, averted vision may be needed to see the faint grey smudges that make up the brighter parts of the nebula. These may be the reasons that IC 5146 is largely overlooked, as a suitable object for electronic imaging. The nebula clouds are suggestive to me of a large bird, head down with wings spread and tail fanned out to catch and sail the thermals of the brilliant night skies. This very large, 35' X 28' in total size, bright nebula is located in the rich milky way star fields of the summer southern night skies.