IC 1396 Elephant Trunk
IC 1396 is a giant emission nebula that is over 3 degrees in diameter. It is illuminated by a hot, massive O-type star (HD 206267) near its center. The star is not visible in this image- it is off of the top edge. This image is of IC 1396A, a dark, dense cloud of gas embedded in the nebula. It is informally known as the 'Elephant Trunk Nebula' because of its distinctive shape. Images of other parts of IC 1396 are also available on this website.
| Observatory: | Kitt Peak National Observatory Kitt Peak, Arizona |
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| Telescope: | KPNO 4-Meter |
| Instrument: | Mosaic I |
| Astronomer: | T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOAO/AURA/NSF) |
| Date of Observation: | 11-11-2009 |
| Filters and Assigned Colors: | Hydrogen alpha (red), Sulphur [SII] (blue) and I (orange) |
| Exposure Times: | 5x5min in H-alpha and [S II] each and 5x3min in I |
| Location of Image: | Cepheus |
| Field of View: | 30.3 x 30.0 arcmin |
| Orientation: | North is right, East is up |
| Link to Larger Image | |
| Link to Full Resolution Image | |
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