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TRIFID NEBULA
This stunning image of the Trifid Nebula, listed as number 20 in the catalog of French astronomer Charles Messier (Messier 20), and also known as NGC 6514 in the New General Catalogue (NGC), was produced by myself, Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Langhi, and Demilson Quintão, on the night of July 23, 2025. We used a DSLR camera (Digital Single-Lens Reflex, a type of camera that combines a digital sensor with a mirror system) attached to a Newtonian reflector telescope with a 203 mm (8") aperture. The entire setup was mounted on a large equatorial motorized mount (Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro). To capture the image, we acquired 381 individual frames, each with an exposure of 30 seconds, totaling 3.175 hours of integration. The session took place under the skies near Água Clara – MS, Brazil, where the very low light pollution — due to the region’s distance from major urban centers — allowed for an exceptionally starry sky and significantly contributed to the final image’s high quality. The result reveals beautiful details of the nebula, including numerous regions of gas and dust observable from Earth. The light captured in this image traveled for thousands of years before reaching our camera, enabling us to appreciate its most striking features. The name “Trifid,” meaning “three-lobed,” refers to the dark dust pillars in the center of the nebula, which appear to divide it into three distinct parts. The Trifid Nebula is notable for its unique combination of nebula types — emission, reflection, and dark — and stands out as one of the most visually impressive star-forming regions in the sky. It is located about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, and has an apparent magnitude of +6.3, visible in a dense and rich stellar field in the night sky.
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Object(s): Trifid Nebula (Messier 20 / NGC 6514)
Date and Time (UTC −4):
Start: 2025-07-23, 22:18 UTC
End: 2025-07-24, 02:39 UTC
Location: Água Clara – MS (Mato Grosso do Sul), Brazil
Coordinates: Latitude −20.5400°, Longitude −52.4667°, Altitude 380 m
Bortle Class: 2 (dark sky, excellent conditions)
Telescope / Lens: FótonAstro CFN8 Astrograph Newtonian Telescope 203mm f/3.9
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T6
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro
Coma Corrector: GSO MPCC x1.1
Exposure: 381 × 30s (total: 3.175 h)
Processing Software: AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, Photoshop
Image Scale: 1,11 arcseconds/pixel
Photographer / Credit: Guilherme B., Rodolfo L., Demilson Q.
TRIFID NEBULA
This stunning image of the Trifid Nebula, listed as number 20 in the catalog of French astronomer Charles Messier (Messier 20), and also known as NGC 6514 in the New General Catalogue (NGC), was produced by myself, Prof. Dr. Rodolfo Langhi, and Demilson Quintão, on the night of July 23, 2025. We used a DSLR camera (Digital Single-Lens Reflex, a type of camera that combines a digital sensor with a mirror system) attached to a Newtonian reflector telescope with a 203 mm (8") aperture. The entire setup was mounted on a large equatorial motorized mount (Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro). To capture the image, we acquired 381 individual frames, each with an exposure of 30 seconds, totaling 3.175 hours of integration. The session took place under the skies near Água Clara – MS, Brazil, where the very low light pollution — due to the region’s distance from major urban centers — allowed for an exceptionally starry sky and significantly contributed to the final image’s high quality. The result reveals beautiful details of the nebula, including numerous regions of gas and dust observable from Earth. The light captured in this image traveled for thousands of years before reaching our camera, enabling us to appreciate its most striking features. The name “Trifid,” meaning “three-lobed,” refers to the dark dust pillars in the center of the nebula, which appear to divide it into three distinct parts. The Trifid Nebula is notable for its unique combination of nebula types — emission, reflection, and dark — and stands out as one of the most visually impressive star-forming regions in the sky. It is located about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius, and has an apparent magnitude of +6.3, visible in a dense and rich stellar field in the night sky.
More:
Object(s): Trifid Nebula (Messier 20 / NGC 6514)
Date and Time (UTC −4):
Start: 2025-07-23, 22:18 UTC
End: 2025-07-24, 02:39 UTC
Location: Água Clara – MS (Mato Grosso do Sul), Brazil
Coordinates: Latitude −20.5400°, Longitude −52.4667°, Altitude 380 m
Bortle Class: 2 (dark sky, excellent conditions)
Telescope / Lens: FótonAstro CFN8 Astrograph Newtonian Telescope 203mm f/3.9
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T6
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro
Coma Corrector: GSO MPCC x1.1
Exposure: 381 × 30s (total: 3.175 h)
Processing Software: AstroPixelProcessor, PixInsight, Photoshop
Image Scale: 1,11 arcseconds/pixel
Photographer / Credit: Guilherme B., Rodolfo L., Demilson Q.