Benjamin Law’s soft touch on the colourful Elephant’s Trunk Nebula won him the Photo of the Week title on May 20, 2022.
Located in Cepheus, the Elephant’s Trunk Nebula and the encompassing IC 1396 region is a rather complex area of space. The narrow, dark nebula lit around its edges — the one that twists toward the centre and gives the Elephant’s Trunk its name — is officially designated IC 1396A and is also known as vdB 142. Scientists believe that the region may be home to a stellar nursery, as radiation and winds from massive young stars impact clouds of cool gas and trigger new generations of stars to form.
Law captured his image using a Sky-Watcher EvoStar 80 and a ZWO ASI294MM Pro. Shooting from Bortle 7/8 skies in Stouffville, Ontario, over a few clear nights in May 2022, Law said he collected 22 hours of narrowband image and mapped in the Hubble palette scheme, SHO.
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