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Universe of the Hubble Space Telescope 2001 Calendar

The Trifid nebula (which is also known as M 20 or NGC 6514) is a glowing cloud of gas, dust, and stars some 9000 light years distant toward the constellation Sagittarius. The Trifid nebula is an active site of star formation. The Hubble Space Telescope obtained this image in September, 1997. The image shows only a small portion of a dense cloud located some eight light years from the center of the nebula. Two distinct signatures of star-forming regions are visible: a "stellar jet," which is the exhaust gas of star formation seen as the thinner wispy object pointing toward the upper left, and an "evaporating gaseous globule," which is the concentration of dense gas seen as the thicker pencil-like object pointing toward the upper left.