IC 1396A Elephant Trunk Nebula in Cepheus

Dear friends ... and Carl,

I had serious trouble last night with the incredibly variable seeing and where, for example, more than 2 hours where required to obtain a total of sixty minutes of semi-reasonable luminance data.

Although the result will require a second visit under better conditions, I am quite happy in lieu of the prevailing conditions last night. For the result based on (only) four hours total exposure, I kindly direct you to www.perseus.gr/Astro-DSO-IC-1396A.htm ... also please note the small reflection nebula just before the circular portion of the trunk to the right.

Clear skies!

Oh Anthony, you must be utterly thrilled with that one! Dare I say one of your best to date, and thats saying something. The detail is exquisite as is the colour.

Hearty congrats on a truly smashing image.

That's simply superb Anthony! It looks so dynamic, you can almost see the gas swirling!

Bart.

Dave/Bart,

I am sorry I did not have you here with me last night just for you to get a taste of the challenging conditions. I do confess that the results turned out much better than I expected in lieu of the problematic conditions.

Being lucky sometimes is not a bad thing ... :oops:

Being lucky sometimes is not a bad thing ... :oops:

I think skill and experience helps just a bit too:)

ohhh the reds are just fantastic !!!
but there seems to be a yellow tinge to the far outer right of the image, might be worth cropping that out.