The Trifid Nebula is an H II region in the north-west of Sagittarius in a star-forming region in Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy in the Local Group of galaxies. It is 4,000 light years away from Earth.

Its name means 'three-lobe'. The object is an unusual combination of an open cluster of stars, an emission nebula, a reflection nebula, and a dark nebula