apod
06-30-08, 07:01 PM
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/trifidcenter_lopez.jpg (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0806/trifidcenter_lopez_big.jpg) In the Center of the Trifid Nebula
Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mailto: dlp at iac dot es) (Observatorio del Teide (http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=3&lang=en))
Explanation: Clouds of glowing gas mingle with dust lanes in the Trifid Nebula (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m020.html), a star forming region toward the constellation (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html) of Sagittarius (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/sagittarius.html). In the center, the three prominent dust (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html) lanes that give the Trifid (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020424.html) its name all come together. Mountains (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031228.html) of opaque dust appear on the right, while other dark filaments of dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula. A single massive star (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001ApJ...562..446R) visible near the center causes much of the Trifid's glow (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980828.html). The Trifid, also known as M20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_20), is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulae (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html) known. The nebula lies about 9,000 light years (http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html) away and the part pictured here (http://www.iac.es/telescopes/IAM/Jun08_ing.html) spans about 10 light years. This image (http://www.tierrayestrellas.com/cielosdelteide/ Trifida%20alta%20resolucion.htm) was created with the 0.8-meter IAC80 telescope (http://www.iac.es/telescopes/iac80.html) on the Canary Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands) of Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain).
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080630.html)
Credit & Copyright: Daniel Lopez (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/mailto: dlp at iac dot es) (Observatorio del Teide (http://www.iac.es/eno.php?op1=3&lang=en))
Explanation: Clouds of glowing gas mingle with dust lanes in the Trifid Nebula (http://www.seds.org/messier/m/m020.html), a star forming region toward the constellation (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/constellations.html) of Sagittarius (http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/constellations/sagittarius.html). In the center, the three prominent dust (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html) lanes that give the Trifid (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020424.html) its name all come together. Mountains (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031228.html) of opaque dust appear on the right, while other dark filaments of dust are visible threaded throughout the nebula. A single massive star (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/ nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001ApJ...562..446R) visible near the center causes much of the Trifid's glow (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980828.html). The Trifid, also known as M20 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_20), is only about 300,000 years old, making it among the youngest emission nebulae (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html) known. The nebula lies about 9,000 light years (http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html) away and the part pictured here (http://www.iac.es/telescopes/IAM/Jun08_ing.html) spans about 10 light years. This image (http://www.tierrayestrellas.com/cielosdelteide/ Trifida%20alta%20resolucion.htm) was created with the 0.8-meter IAC80 telescope (http://www.iac.es/telescopes/iac80.html) on the Canary Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Islands) of Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain).
Source (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080630.html)