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Explanation: Is there a monster in IC 1396? Known to some as the Elephant's Trunk Nebula, parts of the glowing gas and dust clouds of this star formation region may appear to take on foreboding forms, some nearly human. The entire nebula might even look like a face of a monster. The only real monster here, however, is a bright young star too far from Earth to be dangerous. Energetic light from this star is eating away the dust of the dark cometary globule at the top right the image. Jets and winds of particles emitted from this star are also pushing away ambient gas and dust. Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the IC 1396 complex is relatively faint and covers a region on the sky with an apparent width of more than 10 full moons. Recently, over 100 young stars have been discovered forming in the nebula.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula - gas - dust - star formation
Publications with words: IC 1396 - Elephant's Trunk Nebula - gas - dust - star formation
See also:
- APOD: 2026 April 13 Á NGC 602 and Beyond
- APOD: 2026 April 5 Á NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2026 March 17 Á The Tadpoles of IC 410
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
- LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion
- NGC 7023: The Iris Nebula
- APOD: 2025 December 28 Á NGC 1898: Globular Cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud