Cut and paste from a google search.
Located in the constellation Sagittarius, the Trifid nebula is a beautiful combination of reflection nebula (blue) and emission nebula (red).
The nebula's distance is rather uncertain, with values between 2,200 light years (Mallas/Kreimer; Glyn Jones has 2,300) and about 7,600 light years (C.R. O'Dell 1963). The Sky Catalog 2000 gives 5,200 light years, a value which is also used by Archinal and Hynes (2003). The WEBDA database has 3140, the Hubble Press Release of Jeff Hester (STScI-PRC99-42) gives "about 9000" light years.
So what's the story?
Baz.
