Explanation:
Sprawling across hundreds of light-years, emission
nebula IC 1396, visible on the upper right, mixes glowing cosmic gas and
dark dust clouds.
Stars are forming in this area, only about 3,000
light-years
from Earth.
This wide angle view also
captures surrounding
emission and
absorption nebula.
The red glow in IC 1396 and across the image is created by cosmic
hydrogen
gas recapturing
electrons knocked away by energetic starlight.
The dark dust clouds are dense groups of smoke-like particles common in the disks of spiral galaxies.
Among the intriguing dark shapes within
IC 1396,
the winding Elephant's Trunk nebula lies just right of the nebula's center.
IC 1396 lies in the high and far off constellation
of Cepheus.
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