IC 1396 Elephant Trunk

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
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
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