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.

                                 2025 July 9
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                             A Beautiful Trifid
          Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Alessandro Cipolat Bares

   Explanation: [5]The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in
   contrasts. [6]Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away
   toward the [7]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 [8]emission nebulae
   dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue [9]reflection nebulae
   produced by dust reflecting starlight, and [10]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 [11]popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn
   stars, above and right of the emission nebula's center, appear in
   famous Hubble Space Telescope [12]close-up images of the region. The
   Trifid Nebula is about 40 light-years across. Too faint to be seen by
   the unaided eye, in this deep telescopic view it almost covers the area
   of a full moon on planet Earth's sky.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
            [29]NASA Web Privacy, [30]Accessibility, [31]Notices;
                A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC,
                         [35]NASA Science Activation
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2507/Trifid2048.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrobares/
   5. https://www.flickr.com/photos/astrobares/53936303451/in/album-72177720319791096
   6. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-20/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250625.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080424.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090521.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090522.html
  11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula
  12. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/1999/42/915-Image.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250705.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250706
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250707.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/