Viewed through a small telescope, the Trifid Nebula is a bright and peculiar object, and is thus a perennial favorite of amateur astronomers.

The images were combined into a false-color composite picture to suggest how the nebula might look to the eye.

The close-up images show a dense cloud of dust and gas, which is a stellar nursery full of embryonic stars.

It points from the head of the dense cloud directly toward the star that powers the Trifid nebula.

The stalk has survived because its tip is a knot of gas that is dense enough to resist being eaten away by the powerful radiation from the star.