The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. It is approximately 5000 ly away from Earth. Its apparent magnitude is 6.3. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars; an emission nebula (the lower, red portion), a reflection nebula (the upper, blue portion) and a dark nebula (the apparent ‘gaps’ within the emission nebula that cause the trifurcated appearance.
Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.

Imaging telescopes or lenses: Celestron C8 SCT
Imaging cameras: QHYCCD QHY8L
Mounts: Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro Goto
Guiding telescopes or lenses: Orion ShortTube 80
Guiding cameras: QHYCCD QHY5L-II Mono
Focal reducers: Celestron f/6.3 Focal Reducer/Corrector
Software: Cyanogen Maxim DL, DeepSkyStacker, Startools 1.3, PHD guiding, photoshop, Leandro Fornaziero Pardal Astronomy controls
Dates: April 26, 2014
Frames: 18×300″
Integration: 1.5 hours

Author: Leandro Fornaziero

AstroPhotography of the day by SPONLI
03 May 2014