Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sagittarius (Sgr)  ·  Contains:  M 20  ·  M 21  ·  NGC 6514  ·  NGC 6531  ·  Trifid Nebula
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Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, Philippe Barraud
Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula
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Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, Philippe Barraud
Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula
Powered byPixInsight

Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula

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Description

This beautiful clover-shaped cloud of glowing gas lies in the constellation Sagittarius. 
Strangely enough, John Herschel gave it the name of Trifid Nebula, whereas his father William had catalogued it in four portions ! (1)
It was discovered by Guillaume Le Gentil probably in 1747. Its distance to the solar system is 5'000 light years.

1. Stephen James O'Meara, The Messier Objects, Deep Sky Companions, Cambridge University Press.

This object is difficult to image from Switzerland because it appears quite low on the southern horizon, just a few degrees over the mountains.
I had to install an extra column to be able to image it from my dome !

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  • Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, Philippe Barraud
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    Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, Philippe Barraud
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Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, Philippe Barraud