Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 August 16 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. The Elephant's Trunk Nebula in Cepheus Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Chuck Ayoub Explanation: Like an illustration in a galactic [4]Just So Story, the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission nebula and young star cluster [5]complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation [6]of Cepheus. Also known as vdB 142, the cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20 light-years long. [7]This colorful close-up view [8]was recorded through narrow band filters that transmit the light from ionized hydrogen, sulfur, and oxygen atoms in the region. The resulting composite highlights the bright swept-back ridges that outline pockets of cool [9]interstellar dust and gas. Such embedded, dark, [10]tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide [11]protostars within. Nearly 3,000 [12]light-years distant, the relatively faint [13]IC 1396 complex covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. The dramatic scene spans a 1 degree wide field, about [14]the size of 2 Full Moons. Tomorrow's picture: Orion on a plate __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1908/ElephantTrunk_Ayoub.jpg 3. https://www.youtube.com/chucksastrophotography 4. http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050908.html 6. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cep/ 7. https://www.astrobin.com/415797/0/ 8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb4aJ_A6Py0 9. http://www-ssg.sr.unh.edu/ism/what1.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070218.html 11. http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images/1058-ssc2003-06b-Dark-Globule-in-IC-1396 12. http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/ 13. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1996A&A...309..581W&db_key=AST&high=3af6c03e8102807 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061228.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190815.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=190816 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190817.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. http://www.mtu.edu/