Trifid Nebula | Gemini North Telescope

Trifid Nebula | Gemini North Telescope

Image of the central region of the Trifid Nebula (M20 in the Messier Catalogue) taken by the Gemini North 8-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, June 5, 2002. Located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the beautiful nebula is a much-photographed, dynamic cloud of gas and dust where stars are being born. One of the massive stars at the nebula's center was born approximately 100,000 years ago. The nebula's distance from the Solar System remains in dispute, but it is generally agreed to be somewhere between 2,200 to 9,000 light years away.

Credit: Gemini Observatory/GMOS Image/National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)/National Science Foundation (NSF)

Release Date: Aug. 4, 2002

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