Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 June 25 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Rubin's First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape Image Credit & [3]License: [4]NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Explanation: [5]This interstellar skyscape spans over 4 degrees across crowded starfields toward the constellation Sagittarius and the central Milky Way. A First Look image captured at the new NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the bright nebulae and star clusters featured include famous stops on [6]telescopic tours of the cosmos: [7]Messier 8 and [8]Messier 20. An expansive star-forming region over a hundred light-years across, Messier 8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. About 4,000 light-years away the Lagoon Nebula harbors a remarkable cluster of young, massive stars. Their intense radiation and stellar winds energize and agitate this cosmic lagoon's [9]turbulent depths. Messier 20's popular moniker is the Trifid. Divided into three parts by dark interstellar dust lanes, the [10]Trifid Nebula's glowing hydrogen gas creates its dominant red color. But contrasting blue hues in the colorful Trifid are due to dust [11]reflected starlight. [12]The Rubin Observatory visited the Trifid-Lagoon field to acquire all the image data during parts of four nights (May 1-4). At full resolution, Rubin's magnificent [13]Sagittarius skyscape is 84,000 pixels wide and 51,500 pixels tall. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy, [31]Accessibility, [32]Notices; A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC, [36]NASA Science Activation & [37]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/SagittariusTrip_Rubin.png 3. https://rubinobservatory.org/gallery/media-policy 4. https://rubinobservatory.org/ 5. https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-first-look/trifid-lagoon 6. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/ 7. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-8/ 8. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/science/explore-the-night-sky/hubble-messier-catalog/messier-20/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230928.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240704.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html 12. https://rubinobservatory.org/ 13. https://rubinobservatory.org/gallery/collections/first-look-gallery/n4kvj0cemd5pbdqgtjdgp2jg2t 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250624.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.com/feed.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250625 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250626.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 37. http://www.mtu.edu/