Every day our eyes catch the light of our memories – time spent with family, the journey to work, a special holiday, a beautiful sunset or a dark starlit night. Each image captured is a picture drawn in light – a photograph: only to be lost in our minds or forever forgotten. Nearly two hundred years ago a small group of amateur scientists achieved what had eluded mankind for centuries – the ability to capture a permanent record of an image seen by their own eyes – a moment in time frozen onto a surface. They had discovered Photography. They were the ‘Catchers of the Light’.

Monday, August 4, 2025

The Trifid Nebula

Starless view 


Original view 

The Trifid Nebula (catalogued as Messier 20 or M20 and as NGC 6514) is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius in a star-forming region in the Milky Way's Scutum–Centaurus Arm. It was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. Its name means 'three-lobe'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula (the relatively dense, reddish-pink portion), a reflection nebula (the mainly NNE blue portion), and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' in the former that cause the trifurcated appearance, also designated Barnard 85). Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.

Luminance data: Kostas Tsekas
Avalon linear fast reverse
Askar 107 PHQ Flatfield Astrograph
Asi 533 MΜ Pro
ZWO ASI290MM Mini + WO UniGuide 50mm Scope
Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance Gen2
Luminance Baader Ir/cut
Exposure: 190*180sec
Location: Stinger of Scorpius Observatory, Filiates, Thesprotia, Greece.

Color data: Aras Teo
W.O FLT110 with dedicated TMB field flattener
Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro Belt Drive Mod
Asi 533 MC Pro
W.O ZS 80 ED
P1 Mars-C IMX 462
FeatherTouch 3'' focuser
Starizona MicroTouch autofocuser
Exposure: 103*180sec
Location: Via Lactea Observatory, Kristallopigi Paramithia, Greece

Total Integration:14h 39min