Elephant's Trunk nebula (IC 1396A). This is a starbirth region,a huge cloud of gas and dust in which stars form. A dark band of gas and dust runs across centre. Its upper edge is glowing pink as the hydrogen gas there is ionised by radiation from a hot young star above it. The radiation from this star compacts the gas and dust,a process known as radiation driven implosion. This in turn leads to the formation of more stars within the dense globules the process forms. This nebula lies around 2400 light years from Earth in the constellation Cepheus | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / Croman, Russell |
Taille de l’image : | 3984 px × 2652 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |