Explanation:
Clouds of glowing gas mingle with lanes of dark dust in the
Trifid Nebula, a star forming region toward the constellation of Sagittarius.
In the center, the three huge dark
dust lanes that give the
Trifid its name all come together.
Mountains of opaque dust
appear on the right, while filaments of
dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula.
A single massive star visible near the center causes much of the
Trifid's glow.
The Trifid, also known as
M20,
is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest
emission nebula known.
The nebula lies about 9,000 light years away and part
pictured above spans about 10 light years.
The above image was created by the 0.8-meter
IAC80 telescope on the
Canary Islands of
Spain.
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