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Credit & Copyright: Andrew Campbell
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 near the bottom of the frame
The third, NGC 6559, is right of M8,
separated from the larger nebula by dark dust lanes.
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.
In the composite image, narrowband data records
ionized hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms radiating
at visible wavelengths.
The mapping of colors and range of brightness used to compose
this cosmic still life
were inspired by Van Gogh's famous
Sunflowers.
Just right of the Trifid one of Messier's open star clusters,
M21,
is also included on the telescopic canvas.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Sagittarius
Publications with words: Sagittarius
See also: