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Changes in the Trifid Nebula (1997 and 2026 Observations)

Compare Hubble’s two observations of a portion of the Trifid Nebula, one taken in 2026 with the telescope's current Wide Field Camera 3 and the other in 1997 with an earlier instrument (the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2).

This portrait of star formation spotlights Herbig-Haro 399, a jet of plasma periodically ejected by an actively forming star to produce the long, wiggling line pointing to the top left. The 29 years between these observations show how the jet has expanded. Its counter jet is within the dark brown dust, and shows up as jagged orange and red lines where a natural V appears in the brown dust.

Other changes are evident near the bottom right, specifically the rippling angled line that begins in bright orange and ends in blazing red. The newer observation shows it has expanded toward the right.

The pinker stars in the scene also appear to twinkle or move. This is because stars' positions change from our line of sight, ever so slightly, over decades. This effect is known as proper motion.

  • Release Date
    April 20, 2026
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Hubble Dazzles With Young Stars in Trifid Nebula
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Video: NASA, ESA, STScI, Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

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  • Video: 1920 × 1080, 30 FPS
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Related Images, Videos, & Articles

A tightly cropped Hubble view of a vast star-forming region known as the Trifid Nebula. The top left is bright blue. Brown and amber colors run from top right through the center in irregular, overlapping lines to the bottom-center. At bottom right, the view is almost black. Tiny, amber-colored stars appear throughout.

Image: Trifid Nebula (Wide Field Camera 3 Image)

NASA celebrates Hubble’s 36th anniversary with a new image of the Trifid Nebula, a star-forming region it first captured in 1997. The telescope leveraged almost its full operational lifetime to show us changes in the nebula on human time scales with an improved camera.

A ground-based photo of the full Trifid Nebula is shown on the left half with an inset image from the Hubble Space Telescope at right. At left, an irregular mostly opaque circle takes up the majority of the view. The circle has a bright pink interior crossed with a few dark, jagged dust lanes. A significant region around that appears blue. The edges have shades of orange and brown, with the star-filled black background of space peeking through. Hubbleu2019s close-up is outlined just below center to the left. The top left is bright blue. Brown and amber colors run from top right through the center in irregular, overlapping lines to the bottom-center. At bottom right, the view is almost black. Tiny, amber-colored stars appear throughout the scene. Toward the left there is a prominent brown shape that looks like a head with two horns.

Image: Full Trifid Nebula (Rubin Image with Hubble Close-up)

A pullout shows where the Hubble Space Telescope’s close-up image is located within the wider Trifid Nebula. The image at left was taken by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. The color assignments in the images vary based on the filters in the telescopes’ cameras.

Image titled u201cTrifid Nebula M20; HST WFC3/UVISu201d with compass arrows and color key. A star-forming region is blue at top left, brown and amber from top right to bottom center, and black at bottom right.

Image: Trifid Nebula (WFC3 Compass Image)

This closeup image of the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20 or M20) captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) shows compass arrows, scale bar, and color key for reference.

A tightly cropped Hubble view of a vast star-forming region known as the Trifid Nebula. At left, text reads: Explore the Trifid Nebula. The top left is bright blue. Brown and amber colors run from top right through the center. At bottom right, the view is almost black. Tiny, amber-colored stars appear throughout.

Video: Explore the Trifid Nebula

“Fly” through the Hubble Space Telescope’s view of the Trifid Nebula. The video “floats” over the ridges of gas and dust and moves up toward Herbig-Haro 399, at the top of a brown cloud that resembles a head with horns.

The Heart of the Trifid Nebula (Messier 20/NGC 6514)

Article: New Hubble Image Reveals Details in the Heart of the Trifid Nebula

This June 2004 release of Hubble images provided astronomers with detailed views of structures at the heart of the Trifid Nebula.

The Trifid Nebula: Stellar Nursery Torn Apart By Radiation From Nearby Star

Image: The Trifid Nebula, Stellar Nursery Torn Apart by Radiation from Nearby Star

This Hubble image, taken in 1997, revealed a stellar jet protruding from the head of a dense cloud.

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Details

Last Updated
Apr 20, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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