Subj : Daily APOD Report
To   : All
From : Alan Ianson
Date : Thu Aug 12 2021 00:56:28

                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2021 August 12

                             A Beautiful Trifid
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

   Explanation: The beautiful Trifid Nebula is a cosmic study in
   contrasts. Also known as M20, it lies about 5,000 light-years away
   toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region
   in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different
   types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light
   from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust
   reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear
   in silhouette. But the red emission region roughly separated into three
   parts by obscuring dust lanes is what lends the Trifid its popular
   name. Pillars and jets sculpted by newborn stars, below and left of the
   emission nebula's center, appear in famous Hubble Space Telescope
   close-up images of the region. The Trifid Nebula is about 40
   light-years across. Just too faint to be seen by the unaided eye, it
   almost covers the area of a full moon in planet Earth's sky.

                    Tomorrow's picture: a perfect spiral
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.3)

.