                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 August 10

                      The Light, Dark, and Dusty Trifid
     Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Edelmaier and Gabriele Gegenbauer

   Explanation: Messier 20, popularly known as the Trifid Nebula, lies
   about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation
   Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the
   Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae;
   red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue
   reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark
   nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. The reddish
   emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust
   lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. The cosmic cloud
   complex is over 40 light-years across and would cover the area of a
   full moon on planet Earth's sky. But the Trifid Nebula is too faint to
   be seen by the unaided eye. Over 75 hours of image data captured under
   dark night skies was used to create this stunning telescopic view.

                      Watch: The Perseid Meteor Shower
                   Tomorrow's picture: animation in space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                   NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

