Stars & Nebulae > Trifid (2003)

Trifid

T his is an impression of the star factory popularly known as the Trifid nebula (M20 or NGC 6514), in Sagittarius. The red gas is being made to glow by the presence of new stars forming within it, and the dark bits are drifts of interstellar dust that obscure the light behind them. The Trifid is about 5200 light-years from Earth.