Trifid Nebula

Its name has nothing to with John Wydham's famous fiction novel.The day of the Trifids; instead,this nebula is divided into three by dark lanes of cosmic soot.John herschel-son of William,discoverer of Uranus-described it in the 19th century as singulary trifid,consisting of three bright and irregulary-formed nebulous masses.It lies close to the Lagoon nebula.