So I originally thought I wasn't done taking data on this target yet, but as I often do I started to play with the data I had to see how it was coming along and one thing led to another and - well, I think I AM done with this target after all
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This is the Trifid Nebula, M20, located in the constellation Sagittarius, approximately 9,000 light years away. The object was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764 as the 20th object in his catalogue. The region contains an emission nebula (the reddish pink area), a reflection nebula (the blue regions), and some dark nebulae (the tendrils wafting through the central star forming emission region and also contained in portions of the reflection nebula as well).
It is always quite fun when a capture exceeds your original expectations and I had quite a lot of fun processing this one and watching this 'pop out', as once you have done this awhile you can kinda tell early on when your dataset is going to provide a good result.
This image was made using RGB filters for the main image with Hα data added in, and shorter RGB exposures used for the stars. Comments and critiques most welcome, and thanks for looking!
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