IC1396/vdB142 - The Elephants Trunk (H-alfa)

19:01 12/9/2006 UTC

Milky Way constellations has plenty of H-alfa nebulae to image. IC1396 in this image is a large emission nebula in Cepheus. There are many dark nebulae in front of the emission, of which one is the famous Elephants Trunk or vdB142. The nebula is surprisingly dim and I had to take 10m subs to get enough signal for single frame. The bright star in the image is Herschel's Garnet Star, Mu Cephei. Garnet star showed a distinct red color even in 9x50 finder scope.

NGC/IC Object List:
IC1396 open cluster RA:21h39m06.0 Dec:+57°30m'00" BMag: , OCL 222

Camera: Modified Canon EOS 350D | Telescope: Skywatcher ED80 Pro 80mm f7.5 refractor, William Optics 0.8x focal reducer | Mount: Orion Skyview Pro, Boxdoerfer PowerFlex MTS-3SLP drive controller | Filters: Astronomik H-alpha 13nm 2" | Guiding: Orion ShortTube 80mm f5 refractor, QCGuider, Teleskop-Service 1.5x Barlow, Phillips ToUCam Pro II webcam | Exposure: 10x600s (1h40m) ISO800 f6, 3 darks, 10 flats, bias | Software: IRIS, GIMP | Location: 60°31'N 26°52'E (Koivula/Kotka,FI) | Image Field: 2.333 x 1.751 degrees | Image Center: Ra 21h39m20s Dec +57°54'11" |