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What you're seeing: The Elephant's Trunk Nebula (IC 1396A)
Location: It's part of the larger IC 1396 emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus, about 2,400 light-years from Earth.
Structure: The "trunk" is a dense, sinuous column of interstellar gas and dust, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from nearby massive stars.
Star formation: Like the Pillars of Creation, this region is also a stellar nursery, with young stars forming deep within the dark clouds.
Color mapping: The vibrant hues—greens, blues, purples—come from narrowband filters highlighting ionized gases like hydrogen-alpha, sulfur-II, and oxygen-III.