ScienceDownEast | ScienceDownEast Astrophotography | Nebulae | IC 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula | Elephant Trunk Nebula 30 x 15 min Oct 8, 2025
then click again for actual size.
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A) is a dense, elongated dark globule embedded within the large emission nebula IC 1396 in Cepheus. Intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from the nearby massive O-type star HD 206267 (in the young cluster Trumpler 37) sculpt the bright-rimmed pillar, compressing the gas and triggering the formation of embedded protostars and Herbig–Haro objects along the trunk (SIMBAD IC 1396A).
At a distance of roughly 2,400 light-years (IC 1396 overview), the Elephant’s Trunk itself spans on the order of ~20 light-years, while the parent H II region covers more than 3° of sky in deep images (Elephant’s Trunk Nebula). Visually the region is subtle from most sites and benefits from dark skies and narrowband (Hα/O III) filters. Look for IC 1396 near the iconic red supergiant μ Cephei in the King’s constellation (Cepheus).
Total image time was 7.5 hours.
| Moon Phase | Waxing Gibbous 98% | ||||||||
| Exposure | 30× 15 min | ||||||||
| Gain | 100 | ||||||||
| Camera | ToupTek ATR2600C [6224 × 4168] | ||||||||
| Optics | 120mm Sky-Watcher Esprit on a Proxisky UMi20S Strain Wave mount | ||||||||
| Guiding | ToupTek GPM462M using PHD2 with a 400mm guide scope. Average 15-min sub GuideRMS ranged from 0.53 to 0.74 using 0.5s exposures. | ||||||||
| Controller | KStars on MeLe Quieter 4C | ||||||||
| Filter | Triad Quad Ultra | ||||||||
| Location | Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. | ||||||||
| Date | 2025-10-07 | ||||||||
| Processing | Processed in PixInsight. | ||||||||
| PixInsight Processing |
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References: SIMBAD: IC 1396, SIMBAD: IC 1396A (Elephant’s Trunk), SIMBAD: HD 206267, Wikipedia: IC 1396, Wikipedia: Elephant’s Trunk Nebula.
