Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2021 August 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                             A Beautiful Trifid
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Mike Selby

   Explanation: [5]The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic [6]study in
   contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about [7]5,000 light-years away
   toward the [8]nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming
   region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three
   different types of astronomical nebulae; red [9]emission nebulae
   dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue [10]reflection nebulae
   produced by dust reflecting starlight, and [11]dark nebulae where dense
   dust clouds appear in silhouette. But the red emission region roughly
   separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes is what lends the
   Trifid its [12]popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn
   stars, below and left of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous
   Hubble Space Telescope [13]close-up images of the region. The Trifid
   Nebula is about 40 light-years across. Just too faint to be seen by the
   unaided eye, it almost covers the area of a full moon in planet Earth's
   sky.

                    Tomorrow's picture: a perfect spiral
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2108/M20-SHO-crop-Rev-5-RGB-Ha-OIII-RiDK-700-19-July-2021.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.facebook.com/masterdarksastro/
   5. https://www.astrobin.com/p0oawd/
   6. http://www.messier.seds.org/m/m020.html
   7. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/5000lys.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130712.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080424.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090521.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090522.html
  12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula
  13. http://hubblesite.org/image/915/news_release/1999-42
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210811.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210812
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210813.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/