IC 1396A The Elephant Trunk Nebula

Saturday , 4, October 2014 Leave a comment
IC 1396, Elephant Trunk Nebula
IC 1396A The Elephant Trunk Nebula L+SHO Version

For a full size image click here.

Distance: 2,400 Light Years
Magnitude: 11.5
Size: 170 Arc-minutes
Age: Approx. 1 million years
Telescope: Takahashi TOA-130
Camera: QSI 683
Mount: AP 1100
Exposures: L 20×600 Bin 1, SII 20×900, Ha 20×900, OIII 20×900

The Elephant Trunk nebula, also known as IC 1396 is found in the constellation Cepheus and is about 2,400 light years away. IC 1396 is one of the larger emission nebula taking up about 3 degrees of sky and containing several star forming regions. The most prominent is IC 1396A which is the part that resembles an elephant trunk. IC 1396A is a dense dark cloud of dust that is illuminated by a very bright nearby star that also illuminates the entire nebula. The bright star is HD 206267 and it is a massive Type O star. The radiation and winds from this star are thought to be the force behind the compression of gas and dust creating the star forming regions. Also contributing to illumination of this area is the open star cluster Trumpler 37 which is seen in the foreground of my image. The glowing edges surrounding parts of the dark globules are formed by the excited gas in the Ha region. This presents the bright backdrop for the globule. In the tip of the Elephant Nebula is a circular globule of dust that is open in the middle. Two stars are found here and they are newly formed stars that have cleared a section of the dust cloud as a process of their formation.

Here is an LRGB version:

IC 1396, Elephant Trunk Nebula
IC 1396A The Elephant Trunk Nebula LRGB

For a full size image click here.

Telescope: Takahashi TOA-130
Camera: QSI 683
Mount: AP 1100
Exposures: L 20×600 Bin 1, RGB 20×300 Bin 2

Here is another SHO version with a different telescope:

IC 1396, Elephant Trunk Nebula
IC 1396A The Elephant Trunk Nebula SHO Version

For a full size image click here.

Telescope: Televue NP101
Camera: QSI 683
Mount: AP 900
Exposures: SII 19×1200, Ha 22×1200, OIII 16×1200

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