27 Sep 2022 ~ Elephant Trunk Nebula ~ Galactic Neighborhood At Just 2,400 Light Years Away

Elephant's Trunk nebula,
It's a beautiful column of dark gas and dust
that is in our galactic neighborhood at just 2,400 light years away.

Usually seen in narrowband showing just the ionized gasses,
this is a broadband view in the visible light spectrum
showing natural colors and tons of details.

The nuances of the dust in the "head" of the column,
and the details through the "donut hole"
which is a cavity being blown out by a small number
of very young stars (some less than 100k years old).

All lit by the backdrop and edge of strongly ionized hydrogen
glowing bright red due to the radiation
of a massive star just out of frame.

Photo: @gazingoutwards