Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2021 April 26

                            A Sagittarius Triplet
             Image Credit & Copyright: Gabriel Rodrigues Santos

   Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured on
   telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius and the crowded
   starfields of the central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic
   tourist Charles Messier cataloged two of them; M8, the large nebula
   below and right of center, and colorful M20 near the top of the frame.
   The third emission region includes NGC 6559, left of M8 and separated
   from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar
   nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. Over a hundred
   light-years across the expansive M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula.
   M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the
   dominant red color of the emission nebulae. But for striking contrast,
   blue hues in the Trifid are due to dust reflected starlight. The broad
   interstellarscape spans almost 4 degrees or 8 full moons on the sky.

                      Tomorrow's picture: star shredder
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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