Lagoon and Trifid Nebulas

April 22, 2012

M8LagoonM20Trifid (3)

Photographer
: Robert Farrimond 
Summary Author: Robert Farrimond 

The image above featuring the Lagoon Nebula (M8) at left and the Trifid Nebula (M20) was captured from Table Mountain in Washington State on the night of June 26, 2011. These stunning emission nebulas are very active star-forming regions in the Milky Way. Both Messier objects are located in Sagittarius and are about 5,000 light years distant. With a decent pair of binoculars you can see them both -- as faint, colorless patches of light. 

Photo Details: Image captured using an Astronomy Technologies (Astro Tech) AT65EDQ flat field Astrograph; 65mm aperture; 420 mm focal length; f/6.5 focal ratio. Instrument mounted on a Meade LXD75 German Equatorial Mount and auto-guided using a 50 mm mini guide scope; Meade DSI CCD camera as the guide sensor. Two separate cameras were used during the capture process.