Nebulae
Elephant Trunk Nebula
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in IC 1396, Cepheus, photographed by Pete Lawrence: a star-forming column of gas 2,400 light-years away.
Target details
The Elephant's Trunk is a dense column of gas and dust inside the much larger glowing region IC 1396, in Cepheus, about 2,400 light-years away. It's a place where stars are being born: infrared images in 2003 revealed several very young stars inside it, less than 100,000 years old. In the head of the trunk, two slightly older stars – a couple of million years old, still infants by stellar standards – sit in a small round cavity that their winds may have cleared.
Capture details
Data captured between 1st & 8th May, 2016.
53x 4 minutes RGB exposures at ISO400
84x 10 minute Ha exposures at ISO400
Equipment details
Skywatcher Quattro 200 CF
NEQ6 Pro
Canon 40d (IR Filter removed)
Skywatcher ST-80
QHY5L-II
Processing details
This image was processed in Pixinsight & Lightroom.