The Elephant's Trunk in Ha

October 20, 2022

IC1396A, the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, is a twisted towering structure of interstellar gas and dust, back-lit and ionized by the intense radiation of the massive star just above it (HD 206267, HR 8281). The nebula's mix of organic and geometric shapes rimmed in light makes it stand out amid the eerie streams and swirls of dark nebulae and the backdrop clouds of ionized hydrogen that make up the expansive IC1396 HII region in the constellation Cepheus. The Elephant's Trunk is about 2,400 lightyears away and towers about 25 lightyears, or almost 150 trillion miles top to bottom (236 trillion kilometers). Imaging notes: 30 x 300-second subs in Ha, stacked in DSS. Apertura 800mm f/4 Newtonian OTA, ZWO ASI1600MM-Pro mono camera, Antlia 3nm Ha filter, ZWO ASI290M OAG, on the Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount with the ZWO ASIAir Plus controller.