Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  M 20  ·  NGC 6514  ·  Trifid Nebula
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha, Steve Solon and Terry Chatterton
Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha
Powered byPixInsight

Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha, Steve Solon and Terry Chatterton
Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha
Powered byPixInsight

Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Visually on the outskirts of the galactic center is a Summer showpiece that Charles Messier catalogued as number 20. It is a massive HII region, and is part of a trifecta (or a 'hat trick' for my hockey buddies) of celestial marvels: a star cluster, an emission nebula, and a reflection nebula. Pictured here is the emission portion, normally colored pink or deep red, but portrayed in hydrogen-alpha's black and white. Toward the lower left of the central two stars is a dense, star-forming cloud containing a stellar jet that is ~4.4 trillion miles long - think of it; a jet that is 3/4 of the distance from the Sun to our nearest star - impressive. 

The Trifid resides some 4,200 light years from Earth just above the spout of Sagittarius's 'teapot' asterism.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Tri-lobes and Jets in H-alpha, Steve Solon and Terry Chatterton