APOD: A Sagittarius Triplet (2015 Aug 10)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: A Sagittarius Triplet (2015 Aug 10)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Aug 10, 2015 4:09 am

Image A Sagittarius Triplet

Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured in telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula left of center, and colorful M20 on the right. The third, NGC 6559, is above M8, separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. The expansive M8, over a hundred light-years across, is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae, with contrasting blue hues, most striking in the Trifid, due to dust reflected starlight. The colorful skyscape recorded with telescope and digital camera also includes one of Messier's open star clusters, M21, just above the Trifid.

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Ann
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Re: APOD: A Sagittarius Triplet (2015 Aug 10)

Post by Ann » Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:48 am

This part of Sagittarius is wonderfully photogenic, and today's APOD does it full justice!

Ann
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Re: APOD: A Sagittarius Triplet (2015 Aug 10)

Post by Visual_Astronomer » Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:35 pm

Not only photogenic, it is a beautiful region visually. The Lagoon is the summer showpiece nebula, rivaled only by the Orion nebula in winter skies. Even a small telescope provides an excellent view.