This is my first attempt at the Trifid Nebula, imaged on 17 June 2024. I feel that the centre is blown out too much, so in my next session I will drop the gain down to 150 and see how that goes. I was trying for an hour of data, but the clouds rolled in, and I had to end the session a bit earlier than I had hoped.
Skywatcher 350 goto, ZWO ASI2600MC PRO cooled to -15c, Starizona Nexus focal reducer, and ZWO Duo-Band filter.
51 minutes of 8 second exposures.
Gain: 200 for lights, flats and biases.
30 Biases (.001 seconds).
15 Flats (automated in N.I.N.A.).
Binning set to 1x1.
Flats taken using a white T-Shirt stretched over the front of the telescope and exposed to the light from my storage shed.
Moon: 10 days old
Bortle 5 skies.
Messier 20, The Trifid Nebula, was discovered by Charles Messier on June 5, 1764. Its name means 'three-lobe'.
The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula (the relatively dense, reddish-pink portion), a reflection nebula (the mainly blue portion), and a dark nebula (the apparent 'gaps' in the former that cause the trifurcated appearance). It is centered about 4100 light years from Earth.
(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trifid_Nebula)