The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a prominent feature within the larger IC 1396 emission nebula complex. It is characterized by its distinctive elongated shape, resembling an elephant’s trunk, which gives it its popular name. This dark nebula is a site of active star formation, containing many young stars and protostars. The nebula is illuminated and shaped by the radiation and stellar winds from a nearby massive O-type star, HD 206267.
Names and Catalog numbers
– Elephant’s Trunk Nebula
– IC 1396A
– vdB 142
– Sh2-131 (part of)
– LBN 459
– LDN 1003
Position and the cosmic neighborhood
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is part of the much larger IC 1396 emission nebula and star-forming region in Cepheus. It is located near the bright star Mu Cephei, also known as Herschel’s Garnet Star. The nebula is situated in a rich star field, with numerous young stars and clusters in its vicinity, including the open cluster Trumpler 37.
Nice to Know
1. The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula contains over 250 young stars, all less than 100,000 years old.
2. The “trunk” shape is caused by the erosion of gas and dust by the intense radiation from nearby massive stars.
3. The nebula is a popular target for astrophotographers due to its distinctive shape and rich color palette when imaged with narrowband filters.
4. The Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed numerous protostars hidden within the dense gas and dust of the nebula.
Brightness, distance and size
The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, as part of the larger IC 1396 complex, has an integrated magnitude of about 5.6, making it challenging but possible to observe visually under dark skies. It is located approximately 2,400 light-years from Earth. The entire trunk-like structure stretches about 20 light-years in length. When viewed from Earth, the nebula spans roughly 10 arcminutes in the night sky, which is about one-third the apparent diameter of the full moon.
