IC1396 Complex in Cepheus

IC1396 nebular complex is located South of m Cephei (see finder chart below). This large nebular complex can be spotted with a naked eye under extremely dark skies and is easy to capture on fast film using piuggybacked camera with a regular telephoto lens. Telescopically, however, it is a challenge object and due to its size rich field instrument is required. The bright central star cluster (also designated IC1396) actually interferece with the view of nebulosity. The whole area is criss-crossed with dark nebulae - some of Barnard's are marked in the illustration below. There is also a prominent "elephant trunk" nebula van den Bergh 142 just West of the central star cluster.

The above mosaic was assembled from 43 image tiles taken on September 13 & 14, 1999 from Sooke, B.C. Celestron Ultima 8 SCT at f3.0 and Cookbook 245 LDC CCD camera were used to acquire them. For each tile, five 60 sec. exposures were taken through infrared blocking filter and then combined with Multi245.

The above image is reduced to 25% of the original. North is up.

North is up. mCephei is the bright star in the upper left sector.

Map created in Guide 7.0 - 7°45' x 10°. North is up.

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© Jan Wisniewski