Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  B85  ·  M 20  ·  NGC 6514  ·  Sh2-30  ·  Trifid Nebula
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M20 - Trifid Nebula, Gary Imm
M20 - Trifid Nebula, Gary Imm

M20 - Trifid Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M20 - Trifid Nebula, Gary Imm
M20 - Trifid Nebula, Gary Imm

M20 - Trifid Nebula

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Description

This object is a beautiful emission and reflection nebula located 9000 light years away in the constellation of Sagittarius at a declination of -23 degrees. It is a spectacular combination of an open star cluster, a reddish hydrogen emission nebula, a bluish reflection nebula and dark dust lanes.

Its nickname means 'divided into three lobes', although it looks more like four to me. The brightest aspect of this object is at the center of the reddish nebula - a triple star system composed of three extremely hot stars. This triple star system is surrounded by a cluster of approximately 3000 stars, only a few of which can be seen in this image. The nebula lies in front of the central region of our galaxy, such that many stars comprising the Milky Way's galactic plane are seen in the image background.

My favorite aspects of this image are:

- The flowing wispy dark brown dust lanes.

- The pillars of star-forming dust, especially seen towards the bottom of the emission nebula.

- The “3-D” look of the bottom right surface of the reddish emission sphere, where it takes on a bit of an orange cast.

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