Trifid Nebula

After seeing Adam Block's extraordinary image of M20 and his animation showing the motion of HH 399, a Herbig-Haro jet associated with a young stellar object, I decided to process this long-focal-length image acquired from Namibia. M20 is a fascinating combination of emission, reflection, and dark nebulosity. Its red regions are dominated by Hα emission, with a contribution from [O III], while the blue reflection nebula is illuminated by starlight scattered by dust. Dark dust lanes divide the bright nebula into its characteristic three lobes. Until now, I had only photographed M20 at shorter focal lengths. The level of detail revealed by the RC 10" is incredible, even though my result is obviously nowhere near Adam's outstanding work! References: Block, A. (2026), Ground-Based Detection of Proper Motion in the HH 399 Outflow of the Trifid Nebula, Research Notes of the AAS (https://www.adamblockphotos.com/m20_2026.html); NASA/ESA Hubble (2026), Changes in the Trifid Nebula (1997 and 2026 Observations) (https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/changes-in-the-trifid-nebula-1997-and-2026-observations/).