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A tightly cropped Hubble view of a vast star-forming region known as the Trifid Nebula. The top left is bright blue. Brown and amber colors run from top right through the center in irregular, overlapping lines to the bottom-center. At bottom right, the view is almost black. Tiny, amber-colored stars appear throughout the scene. Toward the left there is a prominent brown shape that looks like a head with two horns. The left horn points left and is wavy. The right horn is triangular and points up. The brown dust continues, flowing down, as if along a back, and up toward the top right. A prominent line, about the same length as the left horn, appears below the middle of the body, and changes from orange to red. A small, separate semi-transparent pillar is left of the head. A few slightly larger, blue foreground stars with four diffraction spikes appear throughout.
Hubble · Messier 20 · Image: NASA, ESA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Trifid Nebula

Nebula in Sagittarius · 5,200 light-years

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TypeNebula
ConstellationSagittarius
Right ascension18h 02m 42s
Declination−22° 58′
Object distance5,200 light-years
Apparent magnitude8.5
Apparent size28′ (arc-minutes)
Approx. true diameter42.4 light-years across
Also known asM20 · NGC 6514
Messier 20, popularly known as the Trifid Nebula, is a nebula (also catalogued as NGC 6514) in Sagittarius — a glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust. It was recorded by Charles Messier in his famous catalogue of 110 deep-sky objects. It spans roughly 28 arc-minutes on the sky. At about magnitude 8.5, it shows up well in a small backyard telescope.

Although it appears about 28′ wide on the sky, its real span is roughly 42.4 light-years — the difference is a measure of how far away it lies.

Observing Trifid Nebula

Trifid Nebula lies in the constellation Sagittarius and is best placed in the evening sky around June. Its maximum altitude above the horizon depends on your latitude. It is best placed for observers in the southern hemisphere, and sits low for those far north. A small backyard telescope will show it; binoculars may hint at it under dark skies. Note that the listed magnitude is spread across the whole object — diffuse galaxies and nebulae are often harder to see than the number alone suggests, so dark, moonless skies help a great deal.

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