Elephant Trunk Region (IC 1396), Cepheus | |||
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IC 1396 is a large, roughly circular area of nebulosity in the constellation Cepheus. The entire region is often referred to as the "Elephant Trunk Nebula," based on the long, finger-like structure at mid-height, left side of image (IC 1396A). IC1396 is an emission nebula, meaning that it emits a faint glow caused by ionized gases. In addition to the glowing ionized gas, there are also dark dust clouds (dark regions of image) that extinguish starlight coming from behind the nebula. Embedded in the center of this nebula is an open star cluster designated 'Trumpler 37'. | |||
A New 3-color Narrowband Version of the Elephant Trunk Nebula | |||
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This colorized version of the nebula was shot through three different narrowband filters: H-alpha, SII and OIII. (The color interpretation is aesthetic and not true to what would be visible to the human eye.) | |||
| Optics: | Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 | ||
| Camera: | ZWO ASI 6200MM cooled CMOS camera | ||
| Exposure info: | 22/23/24 x 10 mins (Ha/OIII/SII), 11.5 hours total exposure | ||
| Filters used: | Astrodon H-alpha, OIII and SII narrowband filters | ||
| date: | November 2023 | ||
| Processing: | Pixinsight-->Photoshop-->Topaz deNoise AI-->Lightroom | ||
| Color palette: | Red = H-alpha, Green = SII, Blue = OIII, with color adjustments | ||
An Older Effort at the Elephant Trunk | |||
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This black & white image was shot in pure H-alpha through a narrowband filter in the constellation Cepheus. The central star cluster is surrounded by a large field of ionized hydrogen | |||
| Optics: | Williams Optics Star 71 | ||
| Camera: | ZWO ASI 1600MM cooled CMOS camera | ||
| Exposure info: | 16 x 10 mins | ||
| Filters used: | Astrodon H-alpha (5 nm) | ||
| date: | October 2018 | ||