Messier 20 (M20), also known as the Trifid Nebula, is a famous star-forming region located in the constellation Sagittarius; located in a star-rich arm of our galaxy (The Milky Way).

The nebula’s designation in the New General Catalogue is NGC 6514. The name Trifid refers to its three-lobed appearance. Messier 20 consists of several different objects: an emission nebula (the magenta region), a reflection nebula (the cyan region) , a dark nebula (the trifurcation lines); and an open star cluster.

The dark nebula, catalogued as Barnard 85, consists of dust clouds that absorb and block light from the bright objects behind them. It is responsible for the apparent gaps in the larger emission nebula that give M20 its trifurcated look.

Messier 8 (M8), also known as the Lagoon Nebula, is a large, bright emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius.
Classified as an H II region, the star-forming nebula has an apparent magitude of 6.0 and lies at a distance of 4,100 light years from Earth. It has the designation NGC 6523 in the New General Catalogue.
The cluster is only about 2 million years old. The hot young stars in it are responsible for the nebula’s glow. The brightest star in the cluster belongs to the spectral class O5 and has an apparent magnitude of 6.9.

Shot with a Nikon D610 (unmodified); using a Sky-Watcher ED80 Pro Refractor and a Tele Vue 0.8x Reducer/Flattener @ 480mm / f/6; ISO 800; IDAS LPS-P2 Filter; Celestron AVX mount; guided with SSAG; and PHD2; 13 x 6 minute subs (total integration is 78 minutes).

Shot in RAW; converted to 16 bit TIFFs; stacked using DSS; processed in Pixinsight and Photoshop CC.