Description of
object:
The Trifid Nebula is
one of the interesting regions combining all three types of interstellar
nebulae, red emission nebulae, blue reflection nebulae and dark nebulae. The
nebula's name is based on the trisection of the red emission nebula because of
the dark clouds in front of it. It is quite a pleasure to visually explore the
nebula with a bigger instrument. By doing so, it becomes clear that the
emission nebula is split into rather four than three parts. M 20 is about 5200
light years away from us and covers a region as big as the moon. This means the
nebula's diameter is over 40 light years.
A high resolution image of the Trifi Nebula,
taken with the 17" PlaneWave Astrograph, can be find here ... |