Constellation: Cepheus
Distance: 2,400 light years
Apparent Magnitude: 3.5
Actual Size (the 'trunk'): 20 light years long
Visual Size: 49 arcminutes
Other Designations: Barnard 161, IC1396A, LDN1105, vDB142

This is a small part of the huge Elephant's Trunk Nebula, named for the huge cavity carved out by the young stars in the associated cluster. This area is an example of a stellar nursery. The shape of the nebula is defined by the light from the bright double star SAO33626 and the stellar wind from the young protostars in the cluster. This compresses the gas and gives us this beautiful cosmic structure. The young protostars in the image are thought to be very young at less than 100,000 years old. Two older stars (2 million years old) are present in the head of the 'trunk', but can only be seen in infra-red light because of the dust blocking their light from our view.