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Photographer:

Matts Sporre

Location of Photo:

Älta, Sweden

Date/Time of photo:

September 2012

Equipment:

Mount: ASA DDM60Pro Camera: FLI ML8300 @ -40C OTA : ASA N10 f/3.6 Astrograph Astrodon narrow band filters (Ha 5nm, SII 5nm, OIII 3nm) Filter Wheel: FLI CW2-7 Guide camera: Lodestar

Description:

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the star cluster IC 1396 – an ionized gas region located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The piece of the nebula shown above is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star that is just to the west of IC 1396A. (In the Figure above, the massive star is just above the top of the image.) The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.

Website:

Alta Mossvag 144

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