Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                              2020 February 13
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Spitzer's Trifid
       Image Credit: J. Rho ([3]SSC/Caltech), [4]JPL-Caltech, [5]NASA

   Explanation: [6]The Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to
   find with a small telescope. About 30 light-years across and 5,500
   light-years distant it's a popular stop for cosmic tourists in the
   [7]nebula rich constellation [8]Sagittarius. As its name suggests,
   [9]visible light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by
   dark, obscuring dust lanes. But [10]this penetrating infrared image
   reveals the Trifid's filaments of glowing dust clouds and newborn
   stars. The spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the [11]Spitzer
   Space Telescope. Astronomers have used the [12]infrared image data to
   count newborn and [13]embryonic stars which otherwise can lie hidden in
   the natal dust and gas clouds of this intriguing [14]stellar nursery.
   Launched in 2003, Spitzer explored the infrared Universe from an
   Earth-trailing solar orbit until its science operations were brought to
   a close earlier this year, [15]on January 30.

                        Tomorrow's picture: pale blue
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    Authors & editors: [27]Robert Nemiroff ([28]MTU) & [29]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([30]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [31]Specific rights apply.
              [32]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC
                           & [36]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2002/trifid_spitzerR.jpg
   3. http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/
   4. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   5. http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html
   6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191230.html
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130830.html
   8. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/sgr/index.html
   9. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/video-audio/733-ssc2005-02v1-Trifid-s-Shifting-Sides
  10. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1364-ssc2005-02a-New-Views-of-a-Familiar-Beauty
  11. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/index.shtml
  12. http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/
  13. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07226
  14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018MNRAS.475.3029T/abstract
  15. https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-spitzer-space-telescope-ends-mission-of-astronomical-discovery
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200212.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  20. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  25. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200213
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200214.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  30. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. http://www.mtu.edu/