Featured Photograph
Elephant Trunk Nebula
© 2026 Klaus Brasch
Here is my latest image of the Elephant Trunk Nebula in the much larger IC 1396 region. It was taken with an Askar 185-mm APO refractor at f/5.6, through IDAS LPS V4 and Optolong LQ filters, with a spectrally modified Canon 6D Mark II DSLR at ISO 4000. Cumulative exposure was about 20 minutes. Images were stacked in Affinity Photo2, processed in Hubble Palette mode in Astro Wizard and finalized in Photoshop CS.
IC 1396 is one of the largest emission nebulae in the far northern sky some 2400 lights years from us in Cepheus. It contains several complex objects, including red supergiant Mu Cephei, several double stars, as well as the dark nebula van den Bergh 142, nicknamed the Elephant Trunk, and just south of that the dark nebula Barnard 161. Many other dark nebulae line its southern edge, and the associated cluster Trumpler 37.
The Elephant trunk region can be glimpsed with a large amateur telescope under really dark, transparent skies.
Klaus Brasch
The featured photograph is any astronomical photograph provided by one of our members. If you are a member and have a photograph you would like to submit, please refer to the Featured Photo Guidelines for more information. The submission deadline is the 15th of each month.
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Presenter: Stephen Levine, Ph.D.
Title: Counting Stars in an Asymmetric Galaxy
Abstract:
The Magellanic Clouds are among the closest to us of the many
satellite galaxies of our own Milky Way and they are still apparently
coherent bound assemblages of stars and gas. This talk will examine
the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) in more detail and start from two
questions: (a) How is it possible that the LMC has not been pulled
apart? and (b) Can we learn more about its large-scale structure that
can give us more insight into how such asymmetric structures in a
galaxy can survive? The answer here starts with counting the stars.
Bio:
Dr. Stephen Levine is an Astronomer at Lowell Observatory and the
Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) Scientist. He joined Lowell to lead
the science commissioning of the 4.3-meter LDT and along the way has
led the observatory's Education and Technology departments and works
closely with the Archives department. As the LDT Scientist, he works
to optimize the use of the LDT, fostering collaboration between
scientists, engineers, and operations staff.
His own research focuses on large surveys to enable more research,
computer simulations of lopsided disk galaxies, and using stellar
occultations to learn about outer solar system objects and stars. He
also has an interest in film photography, and is leading a project to
digitize Lowell's collection of astronomical photographic images and
spectra dating back to the early 1900s. This will open the way for
integrating these data into modern astronomical research.
CAS Monthly Meetings and Astronomical Programs are held the
Saturday closest to the Full Moon at the Mars Hill Campus of
Lowell Observatory, Hendricks Center for Planetary Studies
Auditorium (6:45 pm - 8:00 pm), unless otherwise noted followed
by refreshments, and informal discussion. Meetings are open and free
to the public.
