APOD: 2021 July 23 - Elephant, Bat, and Squid

Belated thank you my friend Maj William W. 'Bill' Price for posting the NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) for Friday, July 23, 2012 entitled "Elephant, Bat, and Squid."

Image:
1. Elephant, Bat, and Squid - Image Credit & Copyright - Patrick Hsieh
2. Sharpless 129 'Flying Bat' and Ou4 'Squid Nebula' located in Cepheus.
3. NASA Spitzer Space Telescope image of Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, an elongated dark globule within the emission nebula IC 1396 in the constellation of Cepheus.

1. The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a small part of the much larger IC 1396 emission nebula located in Cepheus. The Elephant's Trunk itself is designated as IC 1396A and can be found on the Western side of the main object.
2. Sharpless 129 is an H-alpha emission nebula commonly called the Flying Bat Nebula located in Cepheus very close to the famous IC 1396 (the nebula that contains the Elephant's Trunk). The large blue/green nebula inside it, which is over a degree long, is formally known as Ou4 but is colloquially called the Squid (or Giant Squid) Nebula. Ou4 is remarkable for having been discovered very recently, in 2011, by amateur astronomer Nicolas Outters (hence the "Ou" in "Ou4"). It was originally called a planetary nebula but is now thought to be some kind of bipolar outflow from the bright blue star at its center.

The English names of nebulae are
a. at left Elephant's Trunk Nebula [lying about 3,000 light years away is IC 1396a].
b. To the right is Sh2-129, the Flying Bat Nebula.
c. And (apparently) embedded within the Flying Bat is Ou4, the Giant Squid Nebula.

APOD Background
"Explanation: Sprawling emission nebulae IC 1396 and Sh2-129 mix glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds in this 10 degree wide field of view toward the northern constellation Cepheus the King. Energized by its bluish central star IC 1396 (left) is hundreds of light-years across and some 3,000 light-years distant. The nebula's intriguing dark shapes include a winding dark cloud popularly known as the Elephant's Trunk below and right of center. Tens of light-years long, it holds the raw raw material for star formation and is known to hide protostars within. Located a similar distance from planet Earth, the bright knots and swept back ridges of emission of Sh2-129 on the right suggest its popular name, the Flying Bat Nebula. Within the Flying Bat, the most recently recognized addition to this royal cosmic zoo is the faint bluish emission from Ou4, the Giant Squid nebula."

Sunlight-Elephant Mountain(1969)-The Youngbloods
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1AZni-V3yw

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter LTC (Join to see) MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel SSG Samuel Kermon SSG Franklin Briant GySgt Thomas Vick CPL Douglas Chrysler Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen GySgt Jack Wallace 1SG Steven Imerman MSgt James Clark-Rosa SGT Charlie Lee CPT (Join to see) SFC William Farrell CSM Charles Hayden SPC Matthew Lamb

Good morning, Maj William W. 'Bill' Price and what a magnificent trio of celestial objects!!! Excellent APOD as always, my friend!

Early afternoon Maj William W. 'Bill' Price