Number 2 in my set of images captured at this year’s Oregon Star Party. This is part of the emission nebula known as IC1396 in the constellation Cepheus, featuring a formation known as the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. This large cloud of mostly hydrogen is about 2,400 light years away from us, and although much too faint to be visible to the naked eye, the whole formation appears about as large as a golf ball held at arm’s length. At mid-northern latitudes right now, the formation is close to dead overhead around 10pm or so. This is a combined 3 1/2 hours of exposure time, all captured in the same night.

Click on the thumbnail on the right for the full resolution version.

Details:

All data captured using Software Bisque TheSkyX Pro. All image processing in Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight.