Tag Archives: Trifid Nebula

A Deeper View

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The image on the left is a visible-light view of the Trifid Nebula. The other three are infrared views taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Trifid Nebula is a large star-forming cloud of gas and dust about 5,400 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. The false-color Spitzer images allow us to look inside the dark lanes of dust are visible trisecting the nebula in the visible-light picture and see regions of star-forming activity. Spitzer uncovered 30 massive embryonic stars and 120 smaller newborn stars in the nebula. The new stars are visible in the Spitzer images as yellow or red spots.

Image Credit: NASA

An Infrared View of the Trifid Nebula

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The Trifid Nebula, aka M20, is easy to find with a small telescope. It’s a well known object in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. Visible light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, but this infrared image reveals filaments of luminous gas and newborn stars. This false-color view was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Trifid is about 30 light-years across and around 5,500 light-years away.

Image Credit: NASA

IR Trifid

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Trifid in IRRadiation and winds from massive stars have blown a cavity into the surrounding dust and gas, creating the Trifid nebula, as seen here in infrared light. The false color image was assembled from data collected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer.

Image Credit: NASA

The Trifid Nebula in Infrared

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The Trifid Nebula, aka M20, is easy to find with a small telescope. It’s a well known object in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. Visible light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, but this infrared image reveals filaments of luminous gas and newborn stars. The false-color view was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Trifid is about 30 light-years across and around 5,500 light-years away.

Image Credit: NASA