APOD on Nostr: **Astronomy Picture of the Day** 20 August 2026 **The Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus** ...
**Astronomy Picture of the Day**
20 August 2026
**The Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus**
Image:
Credit: Not provided
Like an illustration in a galactic Just So Story , the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission region and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus . Also known as vdB 142, this cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20 light-years long. The detailed telescopic view features the bright swept-back ridges and pockets of cool interstellar dust and gas that abound in the region. But the dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars within . Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. Top to bottom this proboscidean-like rendition reaches across an almost 1 degree wide field of view, though. That's a little less than the angular size of 2 full moons.
#APOD #lookUp #NASAInspires #Astrophotography #Cosmos
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260820.htmlPublished at
2026-08-20 06:08:18 CESTEvent JSON
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"content": "**Astronomy Picture of the Day**\n\n20 August 2026\n\n**The Elephant's Trunk in Cepheus**\n\nImage: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2608/IMG_5201_sgarbossa.jpeg\n\nCredit: Not provided\n\nLike an illustration in a galactic Just So Story , the Elephant's Trunk Nebula winds through the emission region and young star cluster complex IC 1396, in the high and far off constellation of Cepheus . Also known as vdB 142, this cosmic elephant's trunk is over 20 light-years long. The detailed telescopic view features the bright swept-back ridges and pockets of cool interstellar dust and gas that abound in the region. But the dark, tendril-shaped clouds contain the raw material for star formation and hide protostars within . Nearly 3,000 light-years distant, the relatively faint IC 1396 complex covers a large region on the sky, spanning over 5 degrees. Top to bottom this proboscidean-like rendition reaches across an almost 1 degree wide field of view, though. That's a little less than the angular size of 2 full moons.\n\n#APOD #lookUp #NASAInspires #Astrophotography #Cosmos\n\nhttps://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260820.html\n",
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