Tag: Messier20

Lagoon Nebula (M8) and Trifid Nebula (M20)

October 1, 2024
H II nebulaReflection nebula
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The Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Trifid Nebula (M20) are two iconic star-forming regions in the constellation Sagittarius, located approximately 4,100 and 5,200 light-years from Earth, respectively.

The Lagoon Nebula (right) is a vast emission nebula filled with glowing hydrogen gas, creating a reddish hue. Spanning about 110 light-years across, it’s a region rich with young stars and dense, dark clouds of gas and dust, where new stars continue to form. The Lagoon’s large, bright structure and open star cluster make it a prominent and popular sight in the Milky Way.

The Trifid Nebula (left) is known for its unique appearance, where dark dust lanes divide its central region into three distinct lobes, giving it a “trifid” or “three-part” look. The Trifid features a combination of reddish emission nebula, blue reflection nebula, and dark nebula, creating a beautiful, multicolored display. Together, the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae offer a stunning view of diverse nebular activity and star formation.

TelescopeSkywatcher Esprit 100ED
Aperture100 mm
Focal length550 mm
MountRainbow Astro RST135
AutoguidingZWO 178MM, QHY Mini Guide Scope
CameraZWO 2600MM @-10°C
CorrectorSkywatcher flattener
FiltersAntlia HaRGB
Exposure127x180s, Gain 100, bin 1×1,
Date2024-10-01

M8 Lagoon Nebula, M20 Trifid Nebula

July 18, 2020
Dark NebulaH II nebulaOpen clusterReflection nebula
4 Comments

These two magnificent nebulae are located visually close to each other in the constellation Sagittarius. This means we are looking in the direction of the galactic core of the Milky Way. Trifid Nebula (up left) is a combination of a reflection nebula (blue part), a dark nebula (brown clouds), an emission nebula (red region), and a star cluster. On the other hand, the Lagoon nebula (right side) is an emission nebula – a giant cloud of ionized HII gas. Due to the very low southern declination, it’s challenging to photograph these deep space objects from my home place in Central Europe. Therefore every time I travel south, I take the opportunity and recapture these nebulae. My first attempt of M20 was made with a focal length of 917 mm, the second one with 630 mm and now I used a gentle focal reducer. A focal length of 570 mm allowed me to fit both nebulae into the field of view of the APS-C sensor size. The picture is an integration of 213 minutes, taken under the dark skies of Fuerteventura.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length570 mm
MountRainbow Astro RST 135
AutoguidingZWO 174MM, Guidescope 30 mm
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-0°C
CorrectorTS MaxField
FiltersNo
Exposure71x180s, Gain 94, bin 1x1,
Date2020-07-18

M20 Trifid Nebula M21 Open Cluster

September 13, 2018
H II nebulaOpen cluster
2 Comments

Messier 20 (called Trifid Nebula) has been captured by me already on Gavdos. This year I had a telescope with shorter focal length, therefore I managed to capture two objects of Messier’s catalogue on one shot. Specifically it’s mentioned Trifid Nebula and M21 Open Cluster (down left from the nebula). The nebula has been already described in my previous post and it’s located not far from M8 Lagoon nebula. The cluster M21 contains approximately 60 stars and it’s characterized by quite dense core, where the distance between neighboring stars is only one light-year.

The picture was taken under dark skies of Milos Island and it’s an integration of only 54 minutes of exposure time.

Technical details:

TelescopeNewton 150/600 mm
Aperture150 mm
Focal length660 mm
MountiOptron CEM25P
AutoguidingQHYCCD miniGuideScope 130 mm f/4.3, ZWO 174 MM
CameraZWO 071 Pro @-10C
CorrectorExplore Scientific HR coma corrector
FiltersAstronomik L-1 - UV IR Block Filter
Exposure18x180s, Gain 134, bin 1x1,
Date2018-09-13