This is the final version of the Messier 8 - The Lagoon Nebula / Messier 20 - The Trifid Nebula field imaging project. After several nights of capture, totaling 15 hours of exposure, we decided to start processing the datasets. There is so much going on in this image. First, Messier 8 (M8), which is the large red nebula that's center bottom, is one of two naked eye star forming nebulae visible in the Northern Hemisphere. Messier 20 (M20), another star forming nebula, is at the top center-left. Both nebulae, and nearly everything else in this image is on the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, which resides in between us and the Scutum-Centaurus Arm, and silhouettes the Milky Way Galactic Nucleus. M8 is on the near side of the arm, residing at 4,078 light years from us. M20 is on the far side of the arm, residing at 5,219 light years from us. All the reds in this image are recombined ionized hydrogen, a process triggered by intense ultraviolet radiation from nearby stars. Blues are reflected starlight from high-mass stars inside the nebula. Blacks are cold hydrogen regions, where starlight is obscured by the hydrogen cloud. Whites are the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) which are hydrogen, oxygen, and other metals that are being illuminated by the combined starlight of the overall galaxy.

Frosty Drew 2020 intern - Mara Decesare helped with data collection, precision set up, alignment, and plate solving of this field in preparation for her summer internship project.

These objects are frequently observed at Frosty Drew Observatory during the summer season. So stop in and see them for yourself! -Scott