Trifid Nebula (M20) Observation Details
M20 Daily Motion
M20 will be visible until January, 1, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M20 Visibility Timetable on May 11
M20 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| Moon Rise, 97.3% illuminated | 18:57 | -53° |
| Astrosession begin | 22:13 | -15° |
| M20 rise | 23:33 | |
| M20 transit | 04:16 | 29° |
| Astrosession end | 04:41 | 29° |
| Moon Set | 05:33 | 27° |
| Civil sunrise | 05:55 | 25° |
| Sunrise | 06:26 | 22° |
| M20 set | 08:58 |
Track M20 Position Throughout the Night
← Sun, 11 May 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M20 - Trifid Nebula
The Trifid Nebula (M20) is an emission nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius. It was discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. The nebula is named for its three-lobed appearance, caused by dark dust lanes that divide the nebula into three parts.
M20 spans about 21 light-years across and is illuminated by a group of hot, young stars. The nebula is approximately 5,200 light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.3, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M20 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M20
| Object name | M20 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M20 coordinates | 18.04503, -22.97189 |
| Center coordinates | 18.04503, -22.97189 |
M20 Passage Through Night
Current position of M20
| Time | 23:24 |
| Latitude | 37.751 |
| Longitude | -97.822 |
| M20 elevation | -2° |
| M20 Azimuth | -118° |
Annual motion of M20
| Date | Mon, 12 May 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 22:13 |
| Twighlight end | 04:39 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 25m |
| Rise | 23:29 |
| Set | 08:54 |
| Elevation at transit | 29° |
| Transit time | 04:12 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 18h 02m 42s", Dec: -22° 58' 18s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Sagittarius |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M20 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.