M20 The Trifid Nebula – A close-up view inside the complex.

Emission(Red) & Reflection Nebula(blue)

with Dark Nebulae Barnard 85 & Bok Globules.

Trifid, you ask???

Its name means ‘three-lobe’ as seen in this Emission nebula.

The object is a delightful combination of an open cluster of stars,

an emission nebula (the relatively dense HII, reddish-pink portion),

a reflection nebula the fainter blue color dust/gas above and surrounding it.

What I really like about this image is the nice internal/external dark nebula structures, traversing the Nebulae.

The Trifid is located about 4,100 Light years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

It shines at visual magnitude 6.3.

Capture Details:

Old Orange tube Celestron C-11 at F6.3 (1,764 mm FL)

Celestron F6.3 Reducer corrector

ASI2600mc Cooled Cmos Camera

ASI Air Version, but did not use internal guide chip.

Bisque MyT Robotic Tracking Mount

SKY X & PHD2 guiding with X2 plugin (70mm dia._400mm FL guide scope)

ASI Air via Wi-Fi to I-Pad and to internal camera usb storage.

(9 x 180 sec subs) or 27 minutes total.

DSS, Pixinsight, and Adobe CC Raw.

Shot from my backyard observatory in the city of Dayton, Ohio(bortle8) on 06-21-2026

Only got 27 minutes before power lines and neighbors Trees interfered, but turned out decent since this is a much brighter object!