Located in the constellation of Cepheus, the Elephant Trunk Nebula is a large (3° x 3°), highly photogenic, hydrogen-alpha emission nebula. It has the designation Sh2-131 but is known as IC 1396, which is technically the designation of the open cluster embedded within it. It is located 2400 ly from Earth, with a diameter of ca. 150 ly, and is now recognised as a site of star formation. This image is from a full colour camera and as a hydrogen emission nebula is basically red in colour. Nuances in colour tones are achieved by extracting the most possible detail from the green and blue channels of the full colour image. Taken under quite a bright sky the L-Extreme filter provides significant enhancement of the diffuse emission nebula.
TS94EDPH (with Reducer)
10Micron GM1000 HPS
SIGMA fp L (colour)
Optolong L-Extreme filter
ca. 2 hrs, ISO 1600, F4.4, 414mm