The Flickr Elephanttrunk Image Generatr

A young Sri Lankan elephant enjoying a quiet moment with its leafy lunch in the wild. These gentle giants are a subspecies of the Asian elephant, and watching this calf feed was both heartwarming and humbling. Photographed during my journey through Sri Lanka's rich natural landscapes — moments like these are reminders of how precious and vulnerable our wildlife truly is.

This stunning black and white portrait captures the raw beauty and deep wisdom of an African elephant in Namibia. The intricate details of its wrinkled skin, powerful trunk, and expressive eyes reflect its strength and resilience in the wild. A timeless tribute to one of Africa’s most iconic animals.

Side view of an elephant standing against a stone wall at Zoológico de Córdoba, España, showcasing animal wildlife in a zoo environment.

IC1396

African Elephants (Loxodonta africana). Letaba, Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Durham, NC, Bortle 7, 56 5-Minute exposures. Pixinsight and Photoshop. My "Red" system: Rokinon 135MM lens, ZWO ASI 2600MC Duo, EAF focuser, Optolong L-Quad Filter, ZWO AM5 Mount. Slightly cropped.

African bush elephants are members of the genus Loxodonta

We're Here is celebrating Elephant Appreciation Day.

The emission nebula IC 1396 mixes glowing cosmic gas and dark dust clouds. Illuminated by the bright central stars, this star-forming region stretches for hundreds of light-years, nearly 3,000 light-years from planet Earth. Among the intriguing dark shapes of IC 1396, the sinuous elephant trunk nebula lies just above the center of the image.
Technical data: Canon EF 300mm with Canon EOS 6D mod and Nikkor 180mm with Atik 4000LE both on SkyWatcher NEQ 6 Pro. 69x180s 3200 ISO f/5 and 10x600 f/4 Ha respectively.

I know this is just a picture of a star, but what a star it is. The Garnet Star was first brought to my attention in the 2023 Night Sky Almanac by Nicole Mortillaro and since then it's become one my favorite stars when doing visual viewing with the telescope.

Herschel's Garnet Star, HD 206936, or Mu Cephei, is a red supergiant star or hypergiant and is 100,000 times brighter than our sun. It was described by William Herschel in the late 1700s as "a very fine deep garnet colour..." (Wikipedia). It's located in the constellation Cepheus and is located at the tip of the Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC1396).

Starless and re-processed version of this previous image with full information: flic.kr/p/2pNwVfG

"The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a dense region of dust and gas found within the considerably larger star forming region IC 1396 in Cepheus constellation. Designated IC 1396A, the elongated globule of dust and gas was named the Elephant’s Trunk because it resembles an elephant’s head and trunk at visible wavelengths, appearing as a dark patch with a bright winding rim. It is located at a distance of 2,400 light years from Earth."

Nébuleuse par émission dans la constellation constellation Céphée.

Cette région riche en gaz et poussières favorisant la formation de nouvelles étoiles.

Je l'ai faite il y a un an avec un APN et avec la Lune .
Cette fois c'est sans lune et une camera astro un meilleur filtre.
Avec un peu plus d'expérience dans l'acquisition, l'autoguidage , et le traitement la différence edt quand même visible

Magnitude visuelle 6
Distance Distance : 3000 années-lumière

5h05 d'intégration 61x300s

Newton 200 800 SW sur Eq6r pro,
asi Zwo 071mcpro refroidie à -10°c
Focuser EAF zwo.
Lunette guide 50 160, Player One Cérès en caméra de guidage.
Filtre IDAS NBZ 2"
Correcteur de Coma , réducteur 0.95 TS.
Acquisition NINA, guidage Phd2.
Traitement Pix Insight (et Gimp pour le nom.)

Bon Ciel ✨️

#Astrophographie #Astropho #Astrophotography #CielProfond #ic1396 #NebuleuseDeLaTrompeDElephant #Deepsky #PoseLongue #LongExposure #autoguidage #autoguiding #AstroPhotographieAmateur

Retrouvez mes photos du ciel sur Instagram.
instagram.com/jacques_isoard?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==

Nébuleuse par émission dans la constellation constellation Céphée.

Cette région riche en gaz et poussières favorisant la formation de nouvelles étoiles.

Je l'ai faite il y a un an avec un APN et avec la Lune .
Cette fois c'est sans lune et une camera astro un meilleur filtre.
Avec un peu plus d'expérience dans l'acquisition, l'autoguidage , et le traitement la différence edt quand même visible

Magnitude visuelle 6
Distance Distance : 3000 années-lumière

5h05 d'intégration 61x300s

Newton 200 800 SW sur Eq6r pro,
asi Zwo 071mcpro refroidie à -10°c
Focuser EAF zwo.
Lunette guide 50 160, Player One Cérès en caméra de guidage.
Filtre IDAS NBZ 2"
Correcteur de Coma , réducteur 0.95 TS.
Acquisition NINA, guidage Phd2.
Traitement Pix Insight (et Gimp pour le nom.)

Bon Ciel ✨️

#Astrophographie #Astropho #Astrophotography #CielProfond #ic1396 #NebuleuseDeLaTrompeDElephant #Deepsky #PoseLongue #LongExposure #autoguidage #autoguiding #AstroPhotographieAmateur

Retrouvez mes photos du ciel sur Instagram.
instagram.com/jacques_isoard?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==

See the SHO palette version here: flic.kr/p/2pNoo38

"The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a dense region of dust and gas found within the considerably larger star forming region IC 1396 in Cepheus constellation. Designated IC 1396A, the elongated globule of dust and gas was named the Elephant’s Trunk because it resembles an elephant’s head and trunk at visible wavelengths, appearing as a dark patch with a bright winding rim. It is located at a distance of 2,400 light years from Earth."

i captured this image with my William Optics FLT132, FLAT8 0.72x reducer, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera and ZWO AM5 mount. I used the Antlia Triband RGB Ultra for around 2 hours and then the Optolong L-Ultimate narrowband filter for another 6 hours, with a total 8 hours integration time over two consecutive nights (in 180 and 300 second subs).

Pre and post processed in PixInsight, with final touches in Affinity Photo 2. HOO palette with RGB stars.

More acquisition details in Astrobin: astrob.in/sl7sof/E/

Thanks for looking

"The Elephant’s Trunk Nebula is a dense region of dust and gas found within the considerably larger star forming region IC 1396 in Cepheus constellation. Designated IC 1396A, the elongated globule of dust and gas was named the Elephant’s Trunk because it resembles an elephant’s head and trunk at visible wavelengths, appearing as a dark patch with a bright winding rim. It is located at a distance of 2,400 light years from Earth."

i captured this image with my William Optics FLT132, FLAT8 0.72x reducer, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera and ZWO AM5 mount. I used the Antlia Triband RGB Ultra for around 2 hours and then the Optolong L-Ultimate narrowband filter for another 6 hours, with a total 8 hours integration time over two consecutive nights (in 180 and 300 second subs).

Pre and post processed in PixInsight, with final touches in Affinity Photo 2. i used the GeneralizedHyperbolicStretch (ghsastro.co.uk) in PixInsight, which was super useful in extracting/showing the dust clouds in this image. This is the SHO palette with RGB stars.

See the HOO palette version here: flic.kr/p/2pNwVfG

More acquisition details and different versions of the image (variations on the palette) in Astrobin: astrob.in/sl7sof/D/

Thanks for looking

Day 3 of my Save the Elephants Celebration! iPhone video of two big bulls enjoying this tree. It is crazy to see how truly powerful they are, with just their trunks!

Or at least it kind of looks like it.
Masai Mara, Kenya

African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) are the largest animals walking the Earth. Their herds wander through 37 countries in Africa. They are easily recognized by their trunk that is used for communication and handling objects. And their large ears allow them to radiate excess heat. Upper incisor teeth develop into tusks in African elephants and grow throughout their lifetime.

- Elephant Trunk Nebula IC 1396 -

Yesterday evening I found some old data, taken with my Sigma lens, I never touched really because they was so dark in each sub and I was thinking the quality would be to bad to process them. But hey, I did in the end.
____________________________________________________________

Mount: SkyWatcher HEQ5 Pro
Guiding: ZWO ASI 120MM Mini USB 2.0 Mono Camera - Orion 50mm Guide Scope
Filter: Astronomik CLS CCD EOS APS-C Clip-Filter
Camera: Canon EOS 70D (full spectrum modified)
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM (Contemporary)
Focal length: 250mm

100 x 90 seconds frames - ISO 640 – f6.3
2hr 30" total Integration
Darks: 20 frames
Flats: 20 frames
Bios: 20 frames
DarkFlats: 20 frames
Bortle 5/6

Apps: N.I.N.A. > PHD2 > ASCOM
Processing: PixInsight > Photoshop >Topaz > Photoshop

Feeding the elephants was amazing