Had to go away and find a good RGB Trifid to compare with, before we could see what you'd achieved here. It's not the distant background, and it's not the very blackest nebulosity. It's the middling-dark bits of the nebula, where there are now far more stars.
Love to have some glimmering as to what the three different infrared bands tell us. The only pattern I can see is that the bit closest to the very bright stars in the centre of the Trifid is "bluest", and hence highest temperature, of the three infrared wavelengths.
Conversely, the reflection nebula doesn't seem especially strong in infrared, which perhaps makes some sense if the blue part of the starlight is scattered back off the reflection nebula, but the infrared part of the starlight goes straight through and is never seen again.
Great work, and thanks for giving us something to puzzle about.
Best,
Mike
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