IC1396 – Elephant Trunk Nebula

IC1396 – Elephant Trunk Nebula

Belleville, MI

07/28-29/25

Visible high in the eastern sky during the evening sky of summer, IC 1396 and the Elephant Trunk Nebula is vast Stellar Nursery in Cepheus

IC 1396 is a vast, glowing emission nebula and young star-forming region located in the constellation Cepheus, roughly 2,400 light-years from Earth. Spanning more than 3 degrees of sky (about 300 light-years across), this enormous cloud of gas and dust is among the largest H II regions visible in the northern sky. Embedded within it is the striking feature known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula seen at the right center of the image, (designated IC 1396A), a dark, sinuous pillar of dust and gas silhouetted against the glowing backdrop of ionized hydrogen.

The Elephant Trunk Nebula

Often captured in astrophotography due to its distinctive shape and striking contrast, the Elephant Trunk is about 20 light-years long. It is a site of ongoing star formation, where dense pockets of gas collapse under gravity to form new stars, often revealed in infrared observations. Within the trunk are protostars and young stellar objects (YSOs), indicating that the process of stellar birth is actively underway.

Ionization and Central Star

At the heart of IC 1396 is a massive O-type star called HD 206267, which is part of the Trumpler 37 open cluster. HD 206267 is primarily responsible for ionizing the surrounding nebula. It is an O6.5V star, making it:

• Over 100,000 times more luminous than the Sun in ultraviolet radiation.
• Around 10–15 times more massive and 6 times hotter at its surface (~39,000 K vs. the Sun’s ~5,800 K).
• Producing enough high-energy UV photons to strip electrons from hydrogen atoms, causing the surrounding gas to glow in the characteristic red of H-alpha emission.

This intense radiation also sculpts the surrounding gas and dust, forming pillars, globules, and cometary shapes—the Elephant Trunk being a prime example.

Astrophotography