The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, cataloged as Sharpless 2-131, is a striking emission nebula whose sinuous, dark-rimmed column of gas and dust makes it a rewarding target for deep-sky imagers. Because much of its light shines in the narrow spectral lines of hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen, it responds beautifully to narrowband filters that cut through light pollution and reveal fine internal structure. Long integration times bring out the glowing ionization fronts and the sculpted, backlit ridges that give the trunk its name, best rendered in the popular Hubble palette. Its generous angular extent suits short to medium focal lengths, allowing astrophotographers to frame the winding pillar against the surrounding star-rich fields.
Names and Catalog numbers
- Elephant’s Trunk Nebula
- Sh2-131 (Sharpless 131)
Position and the cosmic neighborhood
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula lies in the far-northern constellation Cepheus, at a right ascension of 21h 37m and a declination of +57° 31′, making it a circumpolar target for most northern observers and imagers. It forms part of the larger IC 1396 complex, a sprawling emission region set within one of the richest sections of the Milky Way. Surrounded by dense star fields and neighboring nebulosity, this corner of the sky offers plenty of complementary framing options, from wide mosaics of the whole complex to tight crops on the trunk itself. Its high northern placement keeps it well above the horizon for long stretches of the imaging season.
Nice to Know
- Its winding, dust-laden column of gas gives rise to the evocative popular name, the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula.
- It carries the catalog designation Sharpless 2-131, marking it within the classic Sharpless survey of emission nebulae.
- Rich hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen emission make it an ideal subject for narrowband and Hubble-palette imaging.
- At roughly 3,260 light-years away in Cepheus, it sits in a densely populated region of the northern Milky Way, offering abundant framing possibilities.
Brightness, distance and size
It lies about 3,260 light-years from Earth.
