Elephant's Trunk

by Bruce Feagle

Title

Elephant's Trunk

Artist

Bruce Feagle

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Photograph

Description

This is the Elephant's Trunk Nebula. It is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region, IC 1396. Located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light-years away from Earth. The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance. 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 east of IC 1396A. 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.

Uploaded

April 23rd, 2024

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