Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 July 10 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Sagittarius Triplet Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Andy Ermolli Explanation: These three bright nebulae are often featured on telescopic tours of the constellation [5]Sagittarius and the crowded starfields of the [6]central Milky Way. In fact, 18th century cosmic tourist [7]Charles Messier cataloged two of them; [8]M8, the large nebula above center, and colorful [9]M20 below and left in the frame. The third emission region includes [10]NGC 6559, right of M8 and separated from the larger nebula by a dark dust lane. All three are stellar nurseries about five thousand light-years or so distant. Over a hundred light-years across the expansive M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. M20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Glowing hydrogen gas creates the dominant red color of the emission nebulae. But for striking contrast, blue hues in the Trifid are due to dust [11]reflected starlight. The broad [12]interstellar skyscape spans almost 4 degrees or 8 full moons on the sky. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search | [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy, [30]Accessibility Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC, [34]NASA Science Activation & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2407/sagittariusTri.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.instagram.com/andyermolli/ 5. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161110.html 7. https://www.nasa.gov/content/explore-the-night-sky-hubble-s-messier-catalog-bio 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160909.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170628.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040629.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html 12. https://www.instagram.com/andyermolli/p/C9GnqlvJCc5/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240709.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240710 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240711.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 30. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 35. http://www.mtu.edu/