The long dark shape, rimmed with glowing red, which gives
this object its name is actually an area of dense gas and dust
within a much larger nebula, IC 1396. The glowing rim of the
Elephant Trunk is the edge of a hydrogen cloud that is ionized
by the radiation from a nearby massive star. At the round end
of the Elephant Trunk, newborn stars are driving away the gas
and dust and creating an opening within the nebula. The Elephant
Trunk is 2450 light years away in the constellation Cepheus.

Image data:
Camera: Canon 350 XT (modified)
Exposure: ISO 800, 5 minutes x 24
Telescope: 10" Schmidt-Newtonian, Baader MPCC