Deep Inside the Trifid Nebula
The Trifid Nebula is one of our favorite objects to look at through the telescope.
This view is what the Hubble Telescope sees from space.
To see what we see through our telescope and astronomical binoculars, click on the image.
Before I invest and buy a telescope, I would like to know if you really see that Trifid Nebula image in those colors with your telescope, or you enhanced the picture using the software. Many thanks Octavian
Octavian,
Optical filters that are added to our telescope lens enhance the contrast and saturation of the otherwise dim colors of a nebula’s various gases. Without the filters the red color is a light salmon and the blue color is a light turquoise. The darkness of your sky will also affect how much color you can see, as does the position of the nebula you are looking at. The more it is straight up in the sky, the more color you typically can see. The closer it is to the horizon, the less brilliant the color will be.