Astronomy EssentialsClusters Nebulae Galaxies

See the Trifid nebula aka Messier 20 tonight

Posted by
Bruce McClure
and
EarthSky Voices
and
August 28, 2025
The Trifid nebula Chart showing the teapot and M8 and M20 above.
You’ll find M20, the Trifid nebula, in a dark sky near the spout of the Teapot in Sagittarius. Notice the 3 westernmost (right-hand) stars of the Teapot spout, then get ready to star-hop! If you use binoculars, go about twice the spout’s distance upward until a bright hazy object glares at you in your binoculars. That’s the Lagoon nebula (Messier 8), which is visible to the unaided eye on a dark, moonless night. Once you locate the Lagoon nebula, look for the Trifid nebula as a hazy object some 2 degrees above the Lagoon. For reference, keep in mind that a binocular field commonly spans 5 to 6 degrees of sky. Image via EarthSky.

The Trifid nebula

The Trifid nebula (Messier 20 or M20) is one of the many binocular treasures in the direction of the center of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, its name means divided into three lobes, although you’ll likely need a telescope to see why. On a dark, moonless night – from a rural location – you can star-hop upward from the spout of the Teapot in Sagittarius to another famous nebula, the Lagoon, also known as Messier 8. Also, in the same binocular field, look for the smaller and fainter Trifid nebula as a fuzzy patch above the Lagoon.

A large cloud with a blue lobe and a red lobe divided into 3 parts by dark lanes, overlaid with numerous stars.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Iorio in Marino, Rome, Italy, made this telescopic image of the Trifid nebula on June 26, 2024. Andrea wrote: “The Trifid nebula, M20, is an amazingly complex and photogenic nebula in the constellation Sagittarius. It contains a red hydrogen-alpha emission nebula with dark absorption nebula lanes which gives the object distinct lobes. Above the object is a blue reflection nebula where interstellar dust reflects the light of bright blue stars.” Thank you, Andrea!

Locating the Trifid nebula

To locate this nebula, first find the famous Teapot asterism in the western half of Sagittarius. The Teapot is just a star pattern, not an entire constellation. Nonetheless, most people have an easier time envisioning the Teapot than the Centaur that Sagittarius is supposed to represent. How can you find it? First, be sure you’re looking on a dark night, from a rural location.

Then, look southward in the evening from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, if you’re in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, look northward, closer to overhead, and turn the charts below upside down. And for a precise view from your location, try Stellarium-Web.

Star chart: Teapot-shaped arrangement of stars with an arrow toward 2 bunches of dots representing nebulae.
Starhop from the Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius to the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. And since you are looking along the Milky Way, you’ll see a lot of star clusters and nebulae nearby.

The Lagoon nebula

The Trifid nebula is estimated to be about 5,000 light-years away. And the Lagoon nebula is thought to reside about 4,100 light-years away.

Both the Trifid and Lagoon are vast cocoons of interstellar dust and gas. They are stellar nurseries, actively giving birth to new stars. By the way, the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae are a counterpart to another star-forming region on the opposite side of the sky: the great Orion nebula.

Roundish glowing orange clouds surrounded by glowing green, with many foreground stars.
Visible light pictures show the nebula divided into 3 parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, but this penetrating infrared image by the Spitzer Space Telescope reveals filaments of luminous gas and newborn stars. Image via APOD/ JPL-Caltech/ J. Rho (SSC/Caltech).

Bottom line: The Trifid nebula (M20) is located in the direction of the center of the Milky Way galaxy. If you have an extremely dark sky, you can see the nebula on a moonless night as a fuzzy patch in the Milky Way. And binoculars and telescopes show even more detail.

Read more: Find the Teapot, and look toward the galaxy’s center

Read more: M8 is the Lagoon nebula

Posted 
August 28, 2025
 in 
Astronomy Essentials

Bruce McClure

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About the Author:
Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. He's a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.

EarthSky Voices

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About the Author:
Members of the EarthSky community - including scientists, as well as science and nature writers from across the globe - weigh in on what's important to them.

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