Elephant's Trunk nebula
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![photo of the nebula.](/encyclopedia/images/thumb/3/3b/300px-54345main_ic1396_highres.jpg)
Spitzer Space Telescope photo of the nebula.
The Elephant's Trunk nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust in the IC 1396 star cluster located in the Cepheus constellation about 3,000 light years away from Earth. The nebula is known as a stellar nursery since it is thought to be made up of raw material of newborn stars.