Elephant's Trunk Nebula

At a glance

Type

Emission nebula (H II region)

Constellation

Cep

Right ascension

21h 38m 57.6s

Declination

+57° 29′

Angular size

14x4′

Catalogue

IC1396

Located in Cepheus.

The outline on your card

A long dark globule with a bright ionised rim trails from a larger H II complex.

Outline class

Pillar

Axis ratio

0.29 : 1

Central source

Embedded cluster

Surface brightness

Medium

Recorded structure

Pillars · Dark lane · Embedded stars

The card front carries no text by design: the glyph is drawn from this object's own silhouette, so the outline is the only clue you get until you scan it.

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Editorial description pending.

Find it in the sky

Observation guide pending.

Go deeper

Story pending.