Stellar Shot of the Week

Edward Harp captured this brilliant image of the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) in Cepheus with his SVX130T. This nebula is illuminated and ionized by the very bright triple star system HD206267, just to its east. The light from this massive star and stellar wind from the surrounding young stars, shifts gas from the center outward, leading to very high compression in this nebula. This pressure has led to the current generation of protostars in this region.

Other Designations: Elephant's Trunk, IC 1396, IC1396A

*For more details and an in-depth look at this image, visit Edward’s AstroBin.

Details:

Telescope: Stellarvue SVX130T

Camera: ZWO ASI6200MC Pro

Mount: ZWO AM5

Filter: Optolong L-Ultimate 2"

Accessories:

• ZWO ASIAIR Plus
• ZWO EAF

• Adobe Photoshop
• Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight
• Russell Croman Astrophotography BlurXTerminator
• Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator
• ZWO ASIAIR

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 18). Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_Trunk_Nebula

Elephant Trunk to mu cephei - AstroBin. (n.d.). AstroBin. https://app.astrobin.com/i/2l2kcl

The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula - IC 1396. (20 C.E., August 31). Sky & Telescope. https://skyandtelescope.org/online-gallery/the-elephants-trunk-nebula-ic-1396/