"Truth is more valuable if it takes you a few years to find it." -Jules Renard
Of all the star-forming nebulae in our galaxy, the Trifid Nebula -- Messier 20 -- is thought to be the newest and youngest. Named "Trifid" for its threefold appearance, the blue reflection nebula, the red emission nebula, and the dark, star-forming dust lanes, it also bears a resemblance to the French tricolor flag.
Image credit: flickr user Marc Van Norden, via https://www.flickr.com/photos/mvannorden/8275065973/in/photostream/.
Because of the large number of young, hot stars still inside, the Trifid Nebula is one of the most likely candidates to house our galaxy's next supernova.
Image credit: NASA/ESA and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University).
Come find out all about this wonderful object on today's Mostly Mute Monday! (Or reminisce about when we covered it on Messier Monday years ago!)
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