A concentration of interstellar dust and gases in the star cluster IC1396 (an ionized gas region located in the constellation Cepheus) approximately 2,400 light years away from Earth. Visible at the 6:00 o’clock position is an area commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula or technically vdB 142 (Van den Berg 142), because of its similarity in appearance to a elephant’s trunk. The bright outline around the "trunk" is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star. The entire IC1396 region is ionized by this massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays. The Elephant's Trunk nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 yr) stars that were discovered in infrared images in 2003. Two older (but still young, a couple of million years, by the standards of stars, which live for billions of years) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity.

Also visible is Herschel's Garnet Star (Mu Cephei) at about the 2 o’clock position. It is a red supergiant star in the constellation Cepheus and is one of the largest and most luminous stars known in the Milky Way galaxy. It appears garnet red and is given the spectral class of M2 Ia.

*HST palette is accomplished by combining sub frames using three narrowband filters that capture light produced by glowing hydrogen (Ha), oxygen (OIII) and sulfur (SII) present in the nebula. Green is assigned to hydrogen, blue to oxygen and red to the sulfur.

Acquisition Date: Between 8/19/2012 and 9/11/2012

Camera: SBIG ST8300M @ -12°C

Telescope: Canon 200mm F2.8 L ULTRASONIC Lens

Mount: Losmandy G11 with Gemini II

Guidescope: ATLE80 80mm at f/4.8

Guide Camera: Orion SSAG with Televue TRF2008 0.8x reducer

Filters:

-Hydrogen Alpha (Ha): 9 x 15min (135min)

-Oxygen III (OIII):11 x 15min (165min)

-Sulfur II (SII): 9 x 20min (180min)

Total Exposure: 480min ( 8 hours)

Limiting Magnitude: 5.1

Comments:

Processed in Pixinsight 1.7 and Adobe Photoshop CS5