Hardware
 
 
A man-made probe adrift among the stars See also
The famous Trifid nebula (M20) in Sagittarius
Drifter (1998)  Some time in the far, far future, an ancient probe from Earth, long since lost, may well encounter another civilised planet in more exotic surroundings — the Trifid nebula, for example, as seen here. Or perhaps the probe was actually launched by the people on an alien planet, and will someday wind up near the Earth.