Here's an image I took of M20, the Trifid Nebula, way back on the night of June 17th. I kept thinking I would process it a little better but since it's been so long I decided to go ahead and post it. Maybe next year I will go for a deeper view of this with the big scope.
This was taken with the 4" refractor and narrowband filters were used, so the color presented isn't really accurate. I used the "CFHT Pallette" where H-alpha = Red, Oxygen III = Green, and Sulfer II = Blue.
You can also see the open star cluster M21 in the middle bottom of this image.
When I look at pictures of the Trifid, I always think it looks like a big pulsating brain. In reality it's just an emission nebula, where the gas cloud surrounding a cluster of stars within is excited into emitting it's own luminosity. The orangish-red part is the emission nebula; alongside the main part of the Trifid lies a reflection nebula, which shows in this image in a green color. The reflection nebula is simply reflecting light from the surrounding stars and would be invisible if it was not close enough to them.
On another topic, tonight is the TAAA meeting night. It's also the beginning of the long labor day weekend but it's looking like monsoons and/or side effects from the hurricane in the Pacific will prevent any weekend observing sessions.
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