These nebulae get their beautiful appearance from narrow band filters and a false-color palette. The three nebulae are stellar nurseries about 5,000 light-years distant, toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. Charles Messier catalogued M8, above and right of centre and M20 at the left, in the 18th century. The third nebula is NGC 6559, at bottom right. M8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula and is over 100 light years across; M20 is also known as the Trifid.
The image is a composite; narrow emission lines from sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms recorded through the filters are mapped into broader red, green, and blue colours respectively.
The image is a composite; narrow emission lines from sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms recorded through the filters are mapped into broader red, green, and blue colours respectively.
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