M20, The Trifid Nebula
What we
see as the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius is actually two, two,
two nebulae in one! The northern blue part is dust illuminated
by nearby hot blue stars, while the pink portion glows mainly
from the fluorescence of ionized hydrogen and oxygen. The dark
shapes dividing the "trifid" into petals are intervening
veins of dark, opaque dust.
This shot
with the 92mm scope is the best closeup of this object I've
managed yet. The open star cluster M21 can be seen in the upper
left.
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