The Hydrogen-Alpha Region LBN455

Dense areas of interstellar, cold molecular clouds are called elephant trunks. Due to gravitational effects density increases over time until finally nuclear fusion ignites and new stars are born. The most prominent ones have names, like the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula M16 as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.

The region LBN 455 in constellation Cepheus is a larger molecular cloud, illuminated by ionization from larger ultraviolet stars, where many of these trunks are formed.

The most prominent cloud is named The Elephant's Trunk Nebula, or IC 1396A:

Very dense areas located in front of the cloud not only obscure the ionized glow, but as well stars in the background. These appear as dark nebulae:

Dense areas within such a cloud sometims glow quite bright and may appear with quite sharp edges:

This image was taken September 17th to 21st, 2024 with an average of 90% moon, starting with 100% supermoon. It is a neat example that astrophotography is possible even with a bright moon, as long as we limit to narrowband filters and invest more integration time.