M20 is a small but bright nebula that presents a beautiful sight in an 8" telescope. The three dark lanes that give it the "trifid" name are easily visible. In a 12" telescope the red portion of the nebula takes on a faint pinkish hue. This colouration is quite easy to observe in a 17.5" telescope. I have always found that M 20 is the easiest emission nebula to observe the red colouration. I suspect that this is a result of the colour contrast between the blue and red regions making the red colour more easily visible.

30 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film.
300mm f/6 newtonian telescope, prime focus.

377 second image, Modified Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera.
5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 29, 60 second images, SBIG ST-7XE CCD.
8" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.

5 minutes exposure, Meade 416XT CCD.
300mm f/6 newtonian at prime focus.

Combination of 5, 1 minute images and a 5 minute image.
Meade 416xt CCD. 300mm f/6 newtonian at prime focus.

Combination of 40, 30 secong images using a clear filter and
20, 30 secong images with red and green filters and 25, 30 secong images with a blue filter.
SBIG ST-9XE CCD. 10" f/6.3 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.

Combination of 10, 3 minute images using red, green and blue filters.
SBIG ST-9XE CCD camera. 5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 15, 1 minute images using red, green and blue filters.
SBIG ST-8XE CCD camera. 5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 5, 3 minute images unfiltered.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 20" f/6.8 Dall-Kirkham cassegrain telescope at prime focus.