The Squid and The Elephant's Trunk

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth.

The Giant Squid Nebula, Ou4 and the Flying Bat Nebula, Sh2-129 (left of the mosaic)

Seemingly completely surrounded by the reddish hydrogen emission region SH2-129, the true distance and nature of the Squid Nebula has been difficult to determine. A recent investigation suggests Ou4 is actually located within SH2-129 which is around 2,300 light-years away from the solar system. If this is the case then Ou4 would represent a spectacular outflow driven by HR8119, a triple system of hot, massive stars seen near the centre of the nebula. If so, the truly giant Squid Nebula would physically be nearly 50 light-years across.

False colour image made using narrowband band data, however the stars are coloured with true colour (calibrated) broadband data.

Total Integration: ~54 hrs