Van den Bergh 142 and IC 1396

IC 1396, also known as the Elephant Trunk Nebula, is another region of recent star formation. Many stars in this area are less than a couple hundred thousand years old - very young in the grand scheme of astronomy, where stars live to be billions of years old! The hot young stars are in the process of ionizing and expelling the molecular hydrogen gas. At the same time, new stars are still being born in this nebula. For more information, check out this fantastic APOD taken in early 2014, with the WIYN research telescope on Kitt Peak!

This image was taken as part of Advanced Observing Program (AOP) program at Kitt Peak Visitor Center during 2014.