Other Names: M20:The Trifid Nebula/NGC 6514,
M8: The Lagoon Nebula/NGC6523
Optics: Borg Astrograph 101ED at f/4.1
Mount: Atlas EQG using The Sky6 and EQMOD
Camera: Canon EOS 50D [ UV/IR filter modification by Hap Griffin ]
Filters: IDAS Light Pollution Suppression (LPS-V4) Filter
Exposure: 75 Mins [15 x 300s at ISO 800]
Accessories: Auto guided with Borg 45ED and Orion Starshoot Auto guider using PHD
Location: Palm Cove, QLD, Australia
Date: August 18th, 2011
Notes: Processing: Image acquisition with Maxim DSLR. Image calibration, align, and combine in Maxim DSLR. Levels, curves, Noise Ninja, crop and resize in Photoshop.
Calibrated w/40 Darks, 40 Bias, 42 Flats using light box
Ambient temperature was +18.0C
The
Trifid Nebula (catalogued as
Messier 20 or
M20 and as
NGC 6514) is an
H II region located in
Sagittarius. Its name means 'divided into three lobes'. The object is an unusual combination of an
open cluster of
stars, an
emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a
reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a
dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' within the emission nebula that cause the trifid appearance; these are also designated
Barnard 85). Viewed through a small
telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and colorful object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.
[3] The
Lagoon Nebula (catalogued as
Messier 8 or
M8, and as
NGC 6523) is a giant
interstellar cloud in the
constellation Sagittarius. It is classified as an
emission nebula and as an
H II region.
The Lagoon Nebula was discovered by
Guillaume Le Gentil in 1747 and is one of only two star-forming
nebulae faintly visible to the naked eye from mid-northern latitudes. Seen with
binoculars, it appears as a distinct
oval cloudlike patch with a definite core. A fragile
star cluster appears superimposed on it.