VdB 142

Cepheus - Reflection Nebula - IC 1396

van den Bergh 142 - In Cepheus

Perhaps the most spectacular feature of emission nebula IC 1396 is van de Bergh 142, commonly called the "elephant trunk" due to its characteristic shape. VdB 142 is a reflection nebula, only seen because of the light coming from the 8.8 magnitude star within its gases.

Location: Texas Star Party 2004 near Fort Davis, Texas
Seeing: 6/10
Transparency: 8/10
Date and Time: May 21, 2003
Scope/Mount: Tak FSQ-106 on Tak NJP mount
Exposure information: Grayscale, clear luminance (7 x 10 minutes)
Camera: SBIG STL-6303E with integrated filter wheel
Processing Information: Dark calibration, deblooming, alignment, and sigma combine in MaxIm DL 4. Digital Development in MaxIm 4. Levels, Curves and cropping in Photoshop CS.

Note: This image was cropped from the larger image of IC 1396 <here>.