The Isaac Newton Telescope Photometric Hα Survey of the Northern Galactic Plane
IC1396, The Elephant Trunk Nebula, is one of the youngest and most active nebulae in our galaxy, lying at a distance of approximately 2000 light years from us. This giant cloud of gas and dust is illuminated by a massive central star whose radiation is triggering star formation throughout the region. This image, approximately 15 light years across, shows a prominent edge-brightened limb, embedded deep within which, new stars are forming all the time. Scale is approximately 15 × 20 arcmin, North
