The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20) is one of the most spectacular star-forming regions in the summer Milky Way. Located approximately 5,200 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, it is a remarkable combination of a red emission nebula, where hydrogen gas is ionized by young massive stars, a blue reflection nebula produced by starlight scattered by interstellar dust, and prominent dark dust lanes that divide the nebula into three distinct lobes, giving rise to its name, “Trifid.”
This image was captured from Bragança, Pará, northern Brazil, under Bortle 6 skies. It is the result of 6 hours of total integration, consisting of 180-second exposures, acquired with a GSO RC6 Ritchey-Chrétien telescope (1350 mm focal length), a ZWO ASI294MC Pro cooled color camera, and an Optolong L-Pro filter. Image acquisition was performed with N.I.N.A., guiding with PHD2, and calibration and processing were completed in PixInsight.