IC1396
IC1396 is an emission and star-forming nebula, a giant cloud of gas and dust, one of the largest observable from the northern hemisphere, about 2400 light-years from us.
The gas is being illuminated by HD 206267, right in the center of the nebula; this is a triple star system, in which all three components are massive O-type stars.
Their radiation (they have a temperature exceeding 30,000 degrees Kelvin) and their stellar winds (with a velocity of 3225 km/s), compress parts of the gas cloud and trigger the formation of new stars, which we can see in the image, forming a young open cluster.
This nebula is especially known for its dark region, which resembles an elephant's trunk. More than 250 young stars can be identified in and around the elephant's trunk, most of them are very young stars, less than 100,000 years old, and in the circular cavity itself, we find two older stars, but still young (a couple of million years old). It is believed that the winds generated by these young stars may have emptied the cavity of gas, generating the famous "horn".
Total exposure time is 12 hours on the Hydrogen Alpha (Ha) emission line and 3.5 hours on both Oxygen III (OIII) and Sulfur II (SII), in shots spread from June 21 to June 28, 2020.