images

Elephant's Trunk nebula (VDB 142) in Cepheus

by

Tom Davis/Novapix

Reference

a-nec13-96020

Date

2009-12-05

vdB142 is a small nebula near the much larger emission nebula IC1396 located about 2,450 light-years from Earth. It is a reflection nebula related to the B3 type star HD 239710. IC1396a is sometimes called the "Elephant's Trunk" due to its unusual appearance.