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IC1396 NN – Elephant’s Trunk Nebula

IC1396 is an immense emission nebula combined with an open star cluster. It contains the well-known Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (catalogued as vdB 142), a dark, dense globule of gas and dust that is a very active star-forming region. vdB 142 lies roughly in the south-central area of the full IC1396 nebula complex. This vast complex glows thanks to powerful stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation from a massive central star, the multiple-star system HD 206267, which is sweeping away and clearing the surrounding gas. It lies approximately 2,400 light-years from Earth. Although its surface brightness is quite faint to the unaided eye, it spans an enormous apparent diameter in the night sky and covers an area much larger than the full Moon. This version was processed using Narrowband Normalization.

General information

Constellation
Cepheus
Category
Nebulae
Date
18 July 2023
Capture sessions
18 Jul 2023 — l'Ampolla
26 Jul 2023 — l'Ampolla

Capture

Total time
2h 35min
Subframes
300s (Ha: 10x, OIII: 21x) bin1
Gain / Offset
125 / 30
Calibration
30 flat frames, 30 dark-flat frames and 40 library dark frames, without bias frames

Equipment

Telescope
TS102 f/5.6
Camera
ASI294MM at -10ºC
Filters
Ha and OIII Astronomik, 6 nm
Mount
Sky Watcher Wave 150i
Guiding
PHD2, Guide scope 60mm/f4 + ASI220MM + PegasusAstro UCH + PPBMicro
Focuser
ZWO EAF
Filter wheel
ZWO EFW 7pos

Processing and environment

Processing
Stacked and post-processed with PixInsight 1.9.4 and Narrowband Normalization
Acquisition
NINA
Location
l'Ampolla
Sky
Bortle 4

Annual visibility

198 days per year above +30° at 00:00 UTC from 41° N, 1.5° E.

Additional versions

Elephant’s Trunk Nebula cropCropped view highlighting the structure of vdB 142 and the surrounding regions of gas and dust.