The Trifid Nebula (M20), is another delight in Sagittarius, but best seen with moderate size scopes. Three Dark lanes divide this nebula into three parts, familiar on photographs, giving it the name TRIFID. These vast clouds, about 2,200 light years away, shine by excited hydrogen molecules receiving energy from stars inside. This is a single, unfiltered, 30 minute exposure take at prime focus with a Meade LXD75 8 f/4 Schmidt Newtonian with Kodak E200 slide film. Manual guiding was accomplished with an Orion 910mm photo guidescope. The camera was a 25 year old Olympus OM-1. The total investment of this setup was less than $1,500 which demonstrates that you can get excellent astro photos with a minimal investment!