The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region located in Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. Its name means ‘divided into three lobes’. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster ofstars; 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; these are also designated Barnard 85). 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: GSO 12″ Reflector GSO 12″ F/5
Imaging cameras: Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS
Mounts: Homemade equatorial mount German Equatorial from Darío Pires
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS6, DeepSky Stacker 3.3.2 DeepSkyStacker V 3.2.2
Resolution: 3888×2592
Dates: Oct. 20, 2014
Locations: Eimer Sternen Observatory
Frames: 17×30″
Integration: 0.1 hours
Avg. Moon age: 25.89 days
Avg. Moon phase: 14.28%
RA center: 270.641 degrees
DEC center: -22.979 degrees
Pixel scale: 0.780 arcsec/pixel
Orientation: -59.289 degrees
Field radius: 0.506 degrees

Аuthor: RCompassi
Astrophotography of the day of SPONLI, 29.10.2014