Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together in the Trifid Nebula. Also known as M20, this photogenic nebula is visible with good binoculars towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colors but the chaos. The red-glowing gas results from high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas. The dark dust filaments that lace M20 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. The light from M20 we see today left perhaps 3000 years ago, although the exact distance remains unknown. Light takes about 50 years to cross M20.
This photo was taken this week by my husband, Dave. It consists of 24 fifteen-minute exposures stacked. It was taken with a Meade 12 inch SCT and a QHY8 CCD camera. The scope is mounted on an IPI 262 equatorial mount and is guided with a separate smaller telescope and camera.
Recent Comments