Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cepheus (Cep)  ·  Contains:  IC 1396
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IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus, Prabhakaran
IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus
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IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus

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IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus, Prabhakaran
IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus
Powered byPixInsight

IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus

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Description

Stunning emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds in the high and far-off constellation of Cepheus. Energized by the bright central star seen here, this star-forming region sprawls across hundreds of light-years, spanning over three degrees on the sky while nearly 3,000 light-years from planet Earth. Among the intriguing dark shapes within IC 1396, the winding Elephant's Trunk nebula lies just below the center. Stars could still be forming inside the dark shapes by gravitational collapse. But as the denser clouds are eroded away by powerful stellar winds and radiation, any forming stars will ultimately be cut off from the reservoir of star stuff. The gorgeous true color view is a composition of image data from filters Red, blue, and green blended with Hydrogen-alpha data to enhance the nebulosity.

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IC 1396: Emission Nebula in Cepheus, Prabhakaran

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Narrowband imaging
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