The Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society caught this incredible image of the Trifid Nebula (M20) in Sagittarius with their SVX152T. This nebula lies 5,200 light-years away from Earth and has a diameter of roughly 42 light-years. It is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula, a reflection nebula and a dark nebula. The most massive star that has formed in this region is HD 164492A, an O&.5III star with a mass more than 20 times the mass of the Sun.

According to SVAS:

Our club is having a lot of fun with the data this telescope generates. Since October of last year, we've been doing monthly image processing classes for our members with the 152's data and it's turning out to be quite a successful program.

*For more information on the Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society visit: SVAS - Sacramento Astronomy

Other Designations: M20, Messier 20, NGC 6514.

References:

Jones, T. (2023, August 24). The Trifid Nebula. AstroBackyard. https://astrobackyard.com/m20-trifid-nebula/

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, June 5). Trifid nebula. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula