IC 1396, commonly referred to as the Elephant Trunk Nebula, is located in the constellation Cepheus, and is around 2500 light years from Earth. This region is comprised of a dense gas cloud being compressed by intense radiation and stellar winds from a nearby star. These winds are responsible for sculpting the elephant trunk globule. There are many young stars, less than 100,000 years old within the nebula, and two older stars near the head of the elephant trunk. Emission nebulae, like the Elephant Trunk, absorb light from nearby stars which causes them to glow. The above image was taken with Astrodon narrowband filters using a Takahashi FSQ106ED refractor telescope and an FLI ML16803 CCD Camera.