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

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Trifid Nebula - Messier 20, Prabhakaran
Powered byPixInsight

Trifid Nebula - Messier 20

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Description

The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in contrasts. Also known as M20, it is about 40 light-years across and lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula-rich constellation Sagittarius. The trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars. Just too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost covers the area of the Moon in planet Earth's sky.

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Trifid Nebula - Messier 20, Prabhakaran