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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Хобот слона в IC 1396 http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1170999/eng |
Credit: Robert Gendler
Explanation:
Like a picture from a galactic
Just
So Story, the
Elephant's Trunk Nebula
winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster
complex
IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation
of Cepheus.
Bright swept-back ridges
compose the suggestive form, outlining pockets of interstellar dust
and gas.
Such embedded dark,
comet-shaped clouds contain the
raw material for star formation.
About 3,000
light-years distant, the relatively faint
IC
1396 complex covers a much larger region on the sky than shown
here, with an apparent width of more than 10 full moons.
This
close-up telescopic view is a delightful
color
mosaic of two digital images intended to follow
the 'satiable
curious cosmic trunk.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.