Trifid Nebula
Unidentified photographer
Medium unknown
Date unknown
National Air and Space Museum,
Center for Earth and Planetary Studies
Accession no. ASU-IPF-181
Unidentified photographer
Medium unknown
Date unknown
National Air and Space Museum,
Center for Earth and Planetary Studies
Accession no. ASU-IPF-181
Located in the constellation Sagittarius, this beautiful, often-photographed nebula is a dynamic cloud of gas and dust where many stars are born. One of the massive stars at the nebula’s center was born approximately 100,000 years ago. Scientists dispute the nebula’s distance from our solar system but generally agree it is somewhere between 2,200 and 9,000 light years away.
