thefirststarr: This close-up features the dusty Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. It resides in the emi
thefirststarr: This close-up features the dusty Elephant’s Trunk Nebula. It resides in the emission nebula and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus. Also known as vdB 142, the cosmic elephant’s trunk is over 20 light-years long. The colorful view highlights bright, swept-back ridges that outline the region’s pockets of cool interstellar dust and gas. Such embedded, dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars within. This dramatic scene spans a 1 degree wide field, about the size of 2 Full Moons. Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Robert Gendler, Roberto Colombari Data - Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Robert Gendler, Adam Block -- source link