Galactic Nebula IC 1396: In the bright summer Milky Way there is the constellation of Cepheus(next to Cygnus). In there Galactic Nebula IC 1396 is a very extended emission nebula consisting of clouds of gas and dust. Star generation is going on all over the place in there. A very interesting area you find in the lower central part, the so called Elephant Trunk Nebula. This is a cometary nebula, which denotes star nurseries where stars are about to appear from their surrounding dust veils while others are still hidden.

The bright star on the right is a beautiful variable star, called Herschel´s Garnet Star.

 For a narrow band Ha image click here.