Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396)

I've been fascinated by astronomy since childhood, and my love for photography actually began with my first attempts in astrophotography. Even though I've mainly focused on regular photography in recent years, astrophotography has always fascinated me. After experimenting with my normal camera equipment, I finally took the plunge and upgraded to proper astrophotography equipment :-)

 

Unfortunately, clear nights have been relatively rare in the past weeks, so I could be active in only two recent nights. Nevertheless, it was enough to finish my first photo.

 

The photo shows the Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) in the constellation Cepheus. This emission nebula was formed by the interaction of young stars with the surrounding interstellar gas. It got its name because of its distinctive shape, which resembles a curved trunk.

 

🔭 Equipment:

Askar FRA400, 400mm f5.6 + ZWO EAF

ZWO AM5

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro + Optolong L-eXtreme

WilliamOptics Uniguide 50mm + ZWO ASI 120MM mini

ZWO ASIAIR Plus

 

📷 Frames:

33 x 300s (2:45h) @ Gain 100, -10°C

20 x darks, flats, dark-flats

Bortle 4

 

Done