| The Trifid cloud measures 29 by27 arcminutes across. That's nearly the size of the moon. At left, a wide angle shot displays where the Trifid (center) lies in relation to the much larger Lagoon nebula below it. Red gas in nebulae are composed of gas superheated by UV radiation from nearby stars. The hydrogen in the cloud becomes excited and thus flouresces. For this reason, red nebulae are called emission nebulae. Blue nebulous regions are called reflection nebula. These glow by reflecting the light from nearby stars.Trifid (above center) and Lagoon (lower center) |  |
| The top right and bottom right picture were shot on film. The top through an F4.5 300mm lense, 35 min exposure KG 400 ASA. The bottom left through a C11 at F6.3, KMax 800 ASA 40min exposure. Above, CCD image consisting of three 3 minute exposures through a C11 at F6.3 red, green, and blue. Added and processed in MaximDL and Adobe Photoshop |
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