M20 - The Trifid Nebula
An esthetically pleasing combination of emission and reflection nebulae.
  • RA: 18:02
  • Dec: -23:02
  • Size: 29'
  • Magnitude: 6.3
  • Distance: 5200 ly
  • Constellation: Sagittarius
  • Millennium Star Atlas: Vol. III, p. 1392
  • Scope: 12.5" Ritchey-Chretien at f/9
  • Autoguider: ST-4 in average mode
  • Sky conditions: Good transparency, superb seeing
  • Film: FLI Dream Machine CCD
  • Exposure: 12x90 seconds L, 7,5,6x240 seconds R,G,B
  • Date: 6-30-03

Tough choices on what to shoot that night but a quick test shot of M20 indicated some of the best seeing ever. So what better thing to do than reshoot a previous version taken under some of the *worst* seeing ever?


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