Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2015

SPACE CHRONICLES New infrared view of the Trifid Nebula taken with VISTA by ESO very distant Cepheid variable stars that lie almost directly behind the Trifid. They are the first such stars found that lie in the central plane of the Milky Way beyond its central bulge. As one of its major surveys of the southern sky, the VISTA tele- observing in infrared light, astrono- mers can see right through the dust- filled central parts of the Milky Way and spot many previously hidden objects. In just this tiny part of one of the VISTA surveys, astronomers have discovered two unknown and A new image taken with ESO’s VISTA survey telescope re- veals the famous Trifid Neb- ula in a new and ghostly light. By