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> Portion of the Trifid nebula (M20) in Sagittarius

Portion of the Trifid nebula (M20) in Sagittarius

author: Nasa/Stsci/Novapix

reference: a-neb65-14022

Image Size 300 DPI: 12 * 12 cm

Hubble Space Telescope image of a portion of the Trifid Nebula. Located about 9,000 light years from the earth, the Trifid is one of the most prominent nebulae in the night sky. Radiation from the powerful central star is eating away at the surrounding dense interstellar material. The field of view of this HST image includes a region of star formation that will be destroyed by the advancing ionization front in the next 20,000 years or so. This image is a composite of three separate exposures. Red shows emission from singly ionized sulfur atoms. Green shows emission from hydrogen. Blue shows emission from doubly ionized oxygen atoms. Distance: Approximately 9,000 light-years (2800 parsecs) Exposure Date(s): September 8, 1997 Exposure Time: 4.1 hours

Keywords for this photo:

1997 - ASTRONOMY - DIFFUSE NEBULA - EMISSION NEBULA - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - M20 - NEBULA - NGC 6514 - REFLECTION NEBULA - SAGITTARIUS - STAR - STAR FORMATION - TRIFID -