The Elephant Trunk

Ishtim · Nov 24, 2009

B&W is a bit plain but the sheer number of stars makes up for lack of colour!

Adrian Wong · Nov 24, 2009

Wow, that looks remarkably like this Wikipedia photo minus the colour, of course...

The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the star cluster IC 1396 and ionized gas region located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth[1]. The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible wavelengths, where it is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star that is just to the west of IC 1396A. (In the Figure above, the massive star is just to the left of the edge of the image.) The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.

The Elephant Trunk nebula is now thought to be site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 yr) stars that were discovered in infrared images in 2003. Two older (but still young, a couple of million years, by the standards of stars, which live billions of years) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity.

The combined action of the light from the massive star ionizing and compressing the rim of the cloud, and the wind from the young stars shifting gas from the center outward lead to very high compression in the Elephant Trunk nebula. This pressure has triggered the current generation of protostars.
Click to expand...

Chai · Nov 25, 2009

Why is it called elephant trunk? Pardon my ignorance...

Ishtim · Nov 25, 2009

tilt your head sideways...
long trunk with round nose-like thing on the end. Personally, I think that most of the astronomers that came up with these names had too much

Adrian Wong · Nov 25, 2009

Ishtim said: ↑

tilt your head sideways...
long trunk with round nose-like thing on the end. Personally, I think that most of the astronomers that came up with these names had too much
Click to expand...

LOL! IMHO, it looks more like a very long pig's snout.

Chai · Nov 26, 2009

Ishtim said: ↑

tilt your head sideways...
long trunk with round nose-like thing on the end. Personally, I think that most of the astronomers that came up with these names had too much
Click to expand...

I agree with you!

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The Elephant Trunk

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The Elephant Trunk

Ishtim Super Moderator

Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Chai Administrator Staff Member

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Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

Chai Administrator Staff Member

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