It always fascinates me when I come across distinctive names for nebulae, and often wonder who made up these names. Seen here is the Elephant trunk nebula, probably christened thus by the distinctive shape of the dark portion of the nebula, which loosely resembles a Pachyderm’s proboscis. The trunk of the nebula stretches for over 20 light years and is designated IC 1396A. At a not so far away distance of 2400 light years, the nebulae lies in the constellation of Cepheus and is a very popular target to image both with broadband and narrowband filters, and with long as well as wide focal lengths.
Data was collected in Animas, New Mexico, USA on a Planewave CDK17. All seven filters were imaged with very deep integration for a total of 48 hrs. However, this image was processed using only the HA, Oiii and LRGB filters. The data was processed in PixInsight, while applying some final spit and polish in Photoshop. I started the hobby of astrophotography fascinated by the colours of the Hubble Palette and narrowband imaging, but now find myself leaning more towards the RGB and broadband color palette….thanks to images like these!!
Telescope: Planewave CDK17
Camera: FLI PL 16803
Mount: Software Bisque Paramount ME
Observatory : Animas, New Mexico
L = 27 x 1200s
R= 16 x 900s
G= 16 x 900s
B= 16 x 900s
Sii = 18 x 1800s
Ha = 18 x 1800s
Oiii = 18 x 1800s
Total integration = 48hrs
Software = PixInsight