The Elephant's Trunk Nebula

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a dense region of dust and gas found within the considerably larger star forming region IC 1396 in Cepheus constellation.

Designated IC 1396A (or VdB 142), the elongated globule of dust and gas was named the Elephant’s Trunk because it resembles an elephant’s head and trunk at visible wavelengths, appearing as a dark patch with a bright winding rim. It is located at a distance of 2,400 light years from Earth.

Image captured with SPA-3 (Takahashi FSQ106 ED refractor). Data from 5 recent one-click observations.

Total integration time 500 minutes.

LHaRGB 10 of 600s with each filter.

H-alpha data mixed in Lum & Red channel.