Just north of the Sagittarius Teapot's spout lies the particularly interesting nebula M20, which is popularly known as the
Trifid Nebula due to the dark lanes of dust that divide the glowing cloud's brightest region into three distinct segments.
M 20 SGR: Famous
Trifid. A dark-night revelation ...
Binoculars and telescopes reveal dozens of star clusters and nebulae in Sagittarius, but none are finer than M8 the Lagoon Nebula), dimmer M20 (the
Trifid Nebula), M17 (the Omega, Swan, or Horseshoe Nebula), and the great globular cluster M22.
Upon seeing the
Trifid Nebula (M20) for the first time she said, "Howie, it looks just like a dogwood blossom." I'd always thought it resembled a four-leaf clover, and not knowing what a dogwood blossom looks like, her comparison came as a surprise to me.
The constellation Sagittarius holds many nebulae, including the
Trifid (M20) at upper right, the Lagoon (M8) at lower right, and NGC 6559.
Starting January hardly more than 1[degrees] from Beta ([beta]) Scorpii, Venus races deep into Sagittarius, passes near M20 (the
Trifid Nebula) on January 24th, and arrives north of the Teapot's handle by month's end.
Deep Sky Worth Viewing (binoculars or telescope) Object Type Con Eta Carina Nebula BrtN Car Sombrero Galaxy Glxy Vir Herschel's Jewel Box OpCl Cru Omega Centauri GlCl Cen
Trifid Nebula BrtN Sgr Lagoon Nebula BrtN Sgr Omega Nebula BrtN Sgr M41 OpCl Cma M83 Glxy Hya Orion Nebula BrtN Ori Full details on pages 82 to 84 Constellations Day Constellation 01 Circinus 09 Libra, Lupus 20 Corona Borealis 21 Apus, Norma 22 Triang.
If you scan the starry pathway north of Sagittarius, the Archer, with binoculars, you'll chance upon numerous puffs of light with evocative names like Lagoon (M8),
Trifid (M20), and Swan (M17).
Omega, Eagle,
Trifid, Lagoon, Wild Duck, Ptolemy's, other Ms too numerous to count--practically every field is crowded with sights more stunning than those in the last.
Deep Sky Worth Viewing (binoculars or telescope) Object Type Con Sombrero Galaxy Glxy Vir Lagoon Nebula BrtN Sgr Omega Nebula BrtN Sgr Omega Centauri GlCl Cen
Trifid Nebula BrtN Sgr M83 Glxy Hya M7 OpCl Sco Centaurus A Glxy Cen Full details on pages 82 to 84 Constellations Day Constellation 01 Scutum 02 Lyra 05 Sagittarius 06 Telescopium 12 Aquila 13 Pavo 17 Sagitta 26 Vulpecula 29 Cygnus 31 Delphinus Date of midnight culmination.
M8 (bottom) and M20 are better known as the Lagoon and
Trifid Nebulae, respectively.
Just 1.4[degrees] north-northwest of the Lagoon Nebula, the
Trifid Nebula (M20) is another site of recent and ongoing star formation.
trifid - divided into three lobes; "trifid petals"