Starship Asterisk*

A Beautiful Trifid

Explanation: The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. But the red emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, above and right of the emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space Telescope close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40 light-years across. Too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it almost covers the area of a full moon on planet Earth's sky.

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I should not be the first to review this APOD, because any photographer that has spent blood sweat and tears and many many hours to produce an astronomical image that has been chosen as an APOD deserves a fine review.

So let me just say that I personally prefer another type of Trifid Nebula portrait.

What do I prefer? Well, let's compare today's APOD with a picture of the Trifid Nebula by Mark Hanson:



Why do I love Mark Hanson's image? It's because it is so rich and sharply detailed and so marvelously colorful. It also provides us with a lot of background information that allows us to put the Trifid Nebula into perspective. I love the many-colored gaseous streamers stretching away from the Trifid Nebula, the bright colors of the bright stars, the unbelievably star-rich Milky Way background, and the diffraction spikes of the bright stars that allow us to see, among other things, that there are at least two stars at the center of the Trifid Nebula. (There are more.)


Aren't there any good things to say about the APOD? Oh, sure. You could argue that it is a good thing that the colors in the APOD aren't so sharp, because few things in space are very saturated in color. And surely it's a good thing that the stars don't have diffraction spikes? They don't have diffraction spikes in reality! And as much as I love Mark Hanson's image, I will still say that the APOD does a better job at bringing out the blue reflection nebula of the APOD.

Of course I wish that the reflection nebula in the APOD wasn't so greenish... but you can't have everything...

Ann

Thanks to Ann, yet again, for an interesting and informative post.

The Trifid is such a sweet nebula! And just on top of the Lagoon Nebula. Moving back and forth between the two is a stargazing delight…

Eclectic Man wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:31 am Thanks to Ann, yet again, for an interesting and informative post.

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Ann