The Rim Nebula (NGC 6188), discovered by John Herschel on April 15, 1836, is a spectacular emission nebula located about 4,000 light-years away in the constellation Ara, within the Milky Way galaxy. It stands out for its intricate shapes and vivid colors sculpted by intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from young, massive stars, earning it the…
Month: August 2025
Trifid Nebula (M20)
The Trifid Nebula (Messier 20 or M20), located in the north-west of the Sagittarius constellation within our Milky Way’s Scutum–Centaurus Arm, is a notable H II region around 4,100 light-years from Earth that was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. Its “three-lobe” appearance comes from a blend of emission (reddish-pink), reflection (blue), and dark nebulae, as well as an…
The Lagoon Nebula
The Lagoon nebula (also known as M8 in astronomy notation), is a giant emission nebula in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered in 1654 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna. He used a rudimentary Galilean-type telescope with about 20x magnification to identify it. The nebula lies about 4,000–6,000 light-years from Earth, spanning 110 by 50…
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