Central Region of IC1396
I previously posted a wide field image of IC1396 showing the entire nebula against a starry background. This image is a closeup of the central region of the nebula done with Ha and RGB filters. Some interesting features in this image include the bright star in the center which is HR8281, a double star, having magnitudes of 5.69 and 8.06. The second star lies 11.8 arc sec away making this star look elongated. HR8281 is 5 times bigger in diameter than the sun and lies 2000 light years distant.
The next interesting object is VdB 142 also known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula just to the right of HR8281. The Elephant Trunk is the dark elongated area of dust which curls up into the shape of a trunk. Close ups of the Elephant truck are here: Ha HaRGB. Several dark Bok Globules also also pepper the image. B161 is near the top and B367 off to the lower left. See the annotated image.
- Optics : Stellarvue SV102T with prototype Flattener/Reducer
- Mount: Mountain Instruments MI-250
- Camera: QSI 583
- Filters: Astrodon 5nm Ha, RGB
- Exposure: Ha:120 R:60 G:60 B:60 Bin 2x2
- Camera/Mount Control: Maxim DL 5.23, CCD Commander
- Processing: PixInsight 1.8
- Location: Stark Bayou Observatory, Ocean Springs, MS
- Date: Jun/July 13
