Messier 20 - The "Trifid" Nebula.
Some
3,000 light years away in the constellation
of Sagittarius, is the "Trifid nebula", a spectacular display of nebula colours
that provides us with a stunning example of three types of nebula found
in deep space.
The red nebula is emission nebula, a molecular cloud of hydrogen gas being ionized by radiation it receives from stars in close proximity. The ionization process expels a photon which results in a glowing reddish coloured nebula. The blue nebula is reflection nebula, a nebula which reflects the blue light from nearby stars back towards us. Finally, dark nebula is nebula which is not illuminated. You can see dark nebula dividing the red emission nebula into the shape of a trifid.
| Image Details | 20070519 M20 The Trifid Nebula. |
| Telescope |
Observatory mounted 12-inch f/5 Newtonian telescope
on Losmandy Gemini G-11 equatorial mount. |
| Guiding | Autoguided with SBIG 402 on 4.5-inch f/9 guidescope using CCDSoft. |
| Camera |
Canon EOS 300D Digital ( Hα enabled ) focused with DSLR Focus. |
| Exposure | 62 min. exposure (25 x 150 sec. sub-frames) @ ISO400 |
| Filter/equipment |
2" Baader Multi-Purpose Coma Corrector
(MPCC). 2" Baader UV/IR Rejection Filter. |
| Sky Conditions | Seeing: 8/10. Wind: 4-5/10. Moisture: 3/10. Gusty |
| Image Processing | Iris, Photoshop, Noiseware. |
(C) Copyright 2007 Paul Mayo.
paulm@skylab.com.au