IC 1396 Portion

IC 1396 is another region full of molecular hydrogen gas and 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.

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