Elephant's Trunk Nebula

[Bill Richards]

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within a much larger ionized gas region about 2,400 light years away. There's a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim which is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star. The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 years) stars. Two older (but still young) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity. The combined action of the light from the massive star ionizing and compressing the rim of the cloud, and the wind from the young stars shifting gas from the center outward lead to very high compression in the Elephant's Trunk Nebula.

This is the result of 4-1/2 hours of exposure time taken on 9/30/2022.

Equipment and Software:
=======================
Mount: iOption CEM40 w/iPolar
Telescope: SkyWatcher Esprit 100ED
Starizona APEX Focal Reducer
Auto-Focuser: Pegasus FocusCube2
Imaging Camera: ASI2600MC-Pro
Filter: AstroHutech NBZ dual-band filter
Guide Camera: ASI290MM-Mini on OAG
Imaging Software: NINA
Guiding Software: PHD2
Image Processing Software: PixInsight

Exposure Details:
=================
Camera Temperature -15C
Bias: 50
Gain: 100
87 images x 180sec
Plus 32x Darks, Flats, and Dark Flats

#IC1396 #amateurastrophotography #asiweek #astro #astronomia #astronomy #astronomymagazine #astronomyphotography #astronomypicturesdaily #astrophotography #cosmology #cosmos #deepsky #deepskyobject #galaxy #longexposure #nebula #nightphotography #nightsky #outerspace #photography #skyandtelescopemag #space #spacephotography #stargazing #telescope #universe

 

[Anubis1311]

Nice pic! Love this nebula, always mesmerises me!! You’ve processed this beautifully

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Pretty intense looking Nebula. Nicely captured and processed.

 

[CRTAstro]

Great job !

 

[AlanLichty]

I like the feeling of depth in the scene with your efforts. Captivating to view.

 

[JimFox]

Love it Bill! I was going to shoot this myself last week but things came up.

So I can at least enjoy this one of yours and dream of mine.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Beautiful

 

[Mike Lewis]

Such a great object and nice to see this in this wider view.

ML

 

[Dan Moorehead]

Stunning