Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-21 19:39:40 | Updated at 2024-11-28 10:45:12 6 days ago

Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus
NASA ^ | 21 Nov, 2024 | Image Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Giorgio Ferrari

Posted on 11/21/2024 11:11:36 AM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story, the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission region and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus. Also known as vdB 142, this cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20 light-years long. The detailed telescopic view features the bright swept-back ridges and pockets of cool interstellar dust and gas that abound in the region. But the dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars within. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. This rendition spans a 1 degree wide field of view though, about the angular size of 2 full moons.

TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 11/21/2024 11:11:36 AM PST by MtnClimber

To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 11/21/2024 11:11:59 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; Agatsu77; ...

Pinging the APOD list

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3 posted on 11/21/2024 11:12:35 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)

To: MtnClimber

Far off constellation of Cepheus? Don’t all the constellations extend equally far off?

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