The Lagoon & Trifid Nebulas from Marfa

The Lagoon Nebula (M8, lower left) is an emission nebula with an open cluster NGC6530 embedded in it. About 5000 light years away it is 110 x 50 light years in size and 6th magnitude in brightness.

The Trifid Nebula (M20, upper right) is a combination of an open star cluster, a reflection nebula, an emission nebula, and a dark nebula. About 4100 light years away, it's of 6th magnitude

The pair are embedded in the Milky Way just NW of Sagittarius' teapot. They can just barely by good eyes in a very dark sky, but are easy to find in binoculars.

This image was made from Marfa, Texas just after midnight on 2021-06-11. A William Optics Redcat 250/51mm f/4.9 telescope, a broadband Baader UV/IR cut filter, and a cooled ZWO ASI533 one shot color camera was used. The camera and SW AZ EQ5 Pro mount were controlled using a ZWO ASIAIR Pro astrophotography controller. Total exposure was just over 1 hour, with 22 x 3 minute exposures stacked and processed in PixInsight with final crop and exposure adjustment in Photoshop.

Content created: 2021-06-15

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