IC 1396 The Elephant's Trunk Nebula

IC 1396 is a large emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The region is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust with many beautiful ionization fronts. In the centre is a prominently elongated dust lane called "the Elephant's Trunk Nebula". The shape came from intense solar wind washing over the cloud, blowing away the lighter material and leaving behind the denser ones. Infrared astronomy has revealed that many infant stars are being born inside the elephant's trunk. The material they inherited from the nebula will coagulate into planets, some of which may become rocky worlds that might one-day harbour life.

(The original data was acquired from Telescope Live, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop).