I captured this image of the Elephant's Trunk nebula using a Takahashi TSA-120 telescope, a 3nm narrowband filter for H-alpha and OIII wavelengths, and an ASI533MC camera. This photo is the product of a total of 35-hour exposures, revealing intricate details and the nebula's delicate tendrils and vibrant hues.

via Instagram instagr.am/p/CHbU9dABJd6/

IC 1396 Elephant Trunk Nebula

IC 1396 - Elephant Trunk

IC 1396 ( Elephant Trunk Nebula)

🐘 IC 1396 — The Elephant Trunk Nebula in HOO & SHO 🐘

Some 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, a massive O-type star (HD 206267) floods a huge molecular cloud with ultraviolet light, carving out a glowing 30-light-year bubble known as IC 1396. Inside that bubble, a dense, sinuous pillar of dust and gas—nick-named the Elephant Trunk—is being eroded from the outside while new stars gestate deep within. Radiation-driven shocks, newborn stellar jets, and dark Bok globules all mingle here, making IC 1396 one of the most photogenic stellar nurseries in the northern sky.

Capture & Equipment

ItemDetails

ScopeAskar 103 APO + 0.8× reducer (f/5.6, 560 mm)

CameraZWO ASI2600 MC Pro @ –10 °C

Mount & ControlZWO AM5N on a mini-pier • ASIAIR Plus for automation

Guiding60 mm guidescope + ASI120MM mini

Filters & Integration• 78 × 300 s Optolong L-Ultimate (Ha + O III)

• 95 × 240 s Askar ColorMagic D2 (S II)

• 74 × 120 s Optolong L-Pro (broadband stars)

Total: ≈ 15 h 20 m gathered over 7 – 17 July 2025

CalibrationFlats, darks, and dark-flats

SoftwarePixInsight 1.9.1 only—no external editors

Two colour palettes

HOO — Hydrogen-alpha mapped to red, Oxygen III to teal-blue; broadband L-Pro stars screened back in for natural colour.

SHO (Hubble) — Sulphur II → red, Hydrogen-alpha → green, Oxygen III → blue; same L-Pro star field blended for sparkle.

Both versions were rendered starless first (StarXTerminator) to let the gas structures breathe, then the L-Pro star layer was lightly added back for a realistic stellar context.

Fun science bite:

The bright rim of the trunk is a photodissociation front—a supersonic shock where UV photons slam into the dense core. Deep inside, protostars are still collapsing; some drive Herbig–Haro jets that pierce the pillar like cosmic blow-torches.

Clear skies and thanks for looking—feel free to zoom in and wander through this cosmic safari park!

#IC1396 #ElephantTrunkNebula #Cepheus #Astrophotography #HOO #SHO #Askar103APO #ASI2600MC #LUltimate #ColorMagic #PixInsight #Narrowband #SpaceArt #StarFormation

La nebulosa de la trompa de elefante. Fotografiada con un Ed72, son 20 imágenes de 300 segundos cada una. La trompa es más bien grande, tiene unos 20 años luz de longitud. La estrella mu Cephei, la más grande naranja a la izquierda, es todo un coloso del cosmos, comparar su tamaño con el sol es como comparar la Basílica de San Pedro con una uva. #astrophotography #astrofotografia #deepspace #galaxy #galaxia #nebula #nebulosa #vialactea #milkyway #elephanttrunknebula #ic1396

🐘 IC 1396 — The Elephant Trunk Nebula in HOO & SHO 🐘

Some 2,400 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, a massive O-type star (HD 206267) floods a huge molecular cloud with ultraviolet light, carving out a glowing 30-light-year bubble known as IC 1396. Inside that bubble, a dense, sinuous pillar of dust and gas—nick-named the Elephant Trunk—is being eroded from the outside while new stars gestate deep within. Radiation-driven shocks, newborn stellar jets, and dark Bok globules all mingle here, making IC 1396 one of the most photogenic stellar nurseries in the northern sky.

Capture & Equipment

ItemDetails

ScopeAskar 103 APO + 0.8× reducer (f/5.6, 560 mm)

CameraZWO ASI2600 MC Pro @ –10 °C

Mount & ControlZWO AM5N on a mini-pier • ASIAIR Plus for automation

Guiding60 mm guidescope + ASI120MM mini

Filters & Integration• 78 × 300 s Optolong L-Ultimate (Ha + O III)

• 95 × 240 s Askar ColorMagic D2 (S II)

• 74 × 120 s Optolong L-Pro (broadband stars)

Total: ≈ 15 h 20 m gathered over 7 – 17 July 2025

CalibrationFlats, darks, and dark-flats

SoftwarePixInsight 1.9.1 only—no external editors

Two colour palettes

HOO — Hydrogen-alpha mapped to red, Oxygen III to teal-blue; broadband L-Pro stars screened back in for natural colour.

SHO (Hubble) — Sulphur II → red, Hydrogen-alpha → green, Oxygen III → blue; same L-Pro star field blended for sparkle.

Both versions were rendered starless first (StarXTerminator) to let the gas structures breathe, then the L-Pro star layer was lightly added back for a realistic stellar context.

Fun science bite:

The bright rim of the trunk is a photodissociation front—a supersonic shock where UV photons slam into the dense core. Deep inside, protostars are still collapsing; some drive Herbig–Haro jets that pierce the pillar like cosmic blow-torches.

Clear skies and thanks for looking—feel free to zoom in and wander through this cosmic safari park!

#IC1396 #ElephantTrunkNebula #Cepheus #Astrophotography #HOO #SHO #Askar103APO #ASI2600MC #LUltimate #ColorMagic #PixInsight #Narrowband #SpaceArt #StarFormation

IC 1396

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant%27s_Trunk_Nebula

Elephant Trunk Nebula

Located about 2,400 light years from Earth in the constellation Cepheus. The trunk is composed of interstellar dust and gas that’s being blasted with ionizing radiation from the bright triple star system in the center of this image. The entire nebula seen in this image is about 100 light years across.

Image Exposure: 3h 20m

Nova captura! IC1396 ou nebulosa da tromba do elefante. A intensa radiação das estrelas jovens e quentes dentro do aglomerado (principalmente uma gigante azul) está esculpindo e erodindo a nuvem molecular densa. O resultado é aquela formação escura e que (dizem hahaha) se parece com a tromba de um elefante!

New capture! IC 1396 or the Elephant's Trunk Nebula. The intense radiation from the young, hot stars within the cluster (mainly a blue giant) is sculpting and eroding the dense molecular cloud. The result is that dark formation that (they say hahaha) looks like an elephant's trunk!

- Exposures: 36 Ligth Frames of 300s with Optolong L-Ultimate filter, no darks and no flats. 3 hours total exposure. Processing on Pixinsight. Bortle 8.

- Camera: Zwo Asi 2600mc Pro, gain 100 at -10°C

- Scope: Askar FRA300 Pro (60/300mm)

- Mount: Eq5 Sky-watcher mount and AstroEq tracking mod

- Guiding specs: Asiair and ASI120mm in a zwo 30mm f4 miniguider

#astrophotography #astrofotografia #astromomia #astronomy #telescopio #telescope #Askar #Askarfra300 #fra300 #Eq5 #asi2600mcpro #AstroEq #IC1396 #ElephantTrunkNebula #Bortle8 #bortle8sky #DeepSkyStacker #deepsky #pixinsight #ZwoAsi #asiair #optolongLUltimate