Paweł Radomski: Sulfur, Oxygen and Hydrogen Seas (IC 1396 in Hubble Palette)

Paweł Radomski: Sulfur, Oxygen and Hydrogen Seas (IC 1396 in Hubble Palette) - A Refuge in the Cosmic Storm

Over 30 hours. That's how long Paweł Radomski aimed his telescope at IC 1396, waiting for the perfect data to reveal what he calls "something stable" in the chaos of star formation.

You're looking at the Elephant's Trunk—a 20-light-year pillar of gas and dust that stands unshakable against ionizing radiation from one of the most powerful stellar engines in our neighborhood.

This isn't just another nebula photograph. This is 2,400 light-years of cosmic drama captured in the iconic Hubble Palette, where sulfur glows red, hydrogen burns green, and oxygen shimmers blue.

This is what happens when an award-winning Polish astrophotographer decides to showcase not just an object, but a story—the Trunk in all its glory, surrounded by seas of colorful ionized gas.

The Science Behind the Spectacle

IC 1396 spans roughly 100 light-years across the constellation Cepheus—a vast emission nebula energized by HD 206267, a massive multiple star system at its core. This O-type powerhouse, part of the Trumpler 37 cluster, emits stellar winds reaching an exceptional 3,225 km/s—among the highest velocities ever measured for stars of this type. Its harsh ultraviolet radiation ionizes the surrounding hydrogen, creating the glowing circular region you see here while compressing dust at the edges where new stars ignite.

The Elephant's Trunk itself—formally designated IC 1396A—is a dark, dense globule with a bright rim where radiation from HD 206267 illuminates and compresses the cloud surface. Inside this stellar nursery, scientists have discovered over 250 young stars in infrared surveys, most less than 100,000 years old. Research has revealed a spatio-temporal gradient: stars cluster along the rim of the cloud at less than 1 million years old, while stars farther from the trunk toward HD 206267 age progressively to around 4 million years—evidence of radiation-driven triggered star formation persisting over millions of years.

The dark molecular cloud LDN 935 carves through the region, creating the distinctive structural contrasts visible in narrowband imaging. Six dark nebulae cataloged by Barnard (B160, B161, B365, B163, B162, and B367) thread throughout the perimeter, aligned as if radiating away from the core stars.

30 Hours of Pure Dedication

Radomski captured this image using a TS Newton 8" f/5 Carbon telescope paired with a ZWO ASI 2600MM monochrome camera, collecting 30 hours and 19 minutes of total exposure time through 3-nanometer narrowband filters. The technical breakdown: 210 frames in hydrogen-alpha, 208 in oxygen-III, and 107 in sulfur-II, plus RGB star color data—all meticulously processed in PixInsight to extract maximum detail and color gradient.

The Hubble Palette technique maps each emission line to specific color channels: sulfur to red, hydrogen-alpha to green, and oxygen to blue. This creates the signature "false color" aesthetic made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope's Pillars of Creation image, revealing structural details invisible to the human eye while showcasing the distribution of different ionized gases throughout the nebula.

What makes this image exceptional is Radomski's dual intention: to present the Trunk as both scientifically accurate and artistically powerful—a refuge standing firm in airy regions of ionized gas, something unshakable in the turbulence of cosmic creation.

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Technical details:

• Scope: TS Newton 8" f/5 Carbon
• Mount: Sky Watcher AZ-EQ6
• Camera: ZWO ASI 2600MM-Camera
• Filters: Antlia Ha 3nm / OIII 3nm / SII 3nm / RGB
• Processing: PixInsight

Exposure Times:

• Ha: 210x180sec
• OIII: 208x180sec
• SII: 107x300sec
• RGB: 10x60sec each channel
• TOTAL: 30h 19'

Choose Your Quality Level

At Astrography, we journey through the cosmos for you. We don't just find pretty pictures; we curate a collection of the universe's most compelling stories. Each image is handpicked for its breathtaking artistic value, scientific significance, and narrative power. Paweł Radomski's "Sulfur, Oxygen and Hydrogen Seas" is a prime example—a masterpiece of both technique and vision.

Fine Art Print – Museum-Grade Legacy

Our Fine Art option delivers archival excellence worthy of galleries and serious collections. Museum-grade materials paired with premium inks create extraordinary color depth that captures every gradient in Radomski's 30-hour narrowband capture. Rated for over 200 years of lifespan, this is your legacy print—a piece that will preserve this cosmic refuge for generations while maintaining every nuance of the sulfur reds, hydrogen greens, and oxygen blues that define the Hubble Palette. For collectors who demand materials as exceptional as the science and artistry behind the image.

Poster – Accessible Beauty

Experience Radomski's breathtaking vision of IC 1396 at a budget-friendly price. Our poster version delivers the same stunning 30-hour exposure with vibrant Hubble Palette colors optimized for immediate impact. Perfect for offices, classrooms, studios, or any space where cosmic inspiration matters. You get the Elephant's Trunk in all its glory, surrounded by colorful ionized seas—just with materials designed for accessibility rather than centuries of archival preservation.

Who Is This Print For?

• The Serious Collector – You recognize that the best space art merges cutting-edge science with artistic vision. You appreciate that 30 hours of telescope time represents not just technical skill but devotion to craft. This print speaks to your understanding that some images transcend photography and become documents of cosmic processes—radiation-driven star formation captured in wavelengths invisible to human eyes but made visible through narrowband mastery. You're building a collection that tells the universe's story through exceptional works by recognized astrophotographers.
• The Astronomy Enthusiast – You know IC 1396 by name. You understand what it means when someone mentions the Hubble Palette or narrowband imaging in Ha, OIII, and SII. You've read about triggered star formation in bright-rimmed clouds and stellar winds from O-type stars. This print is your chance to own a piece of that knowledge made tangible—250 young stars being born inside a 20-light-year pillar of gas, all captured by an astrophotographer who shares your passion for revealing the cosmos through advanced imaging techniques.
• The Design Visionary – You create spaces that demand attention and reward contemplation. Your clients expect sophistication, color palettes that work, and subjects that elevate rather than simply decorate. The Hubble Palette delivers: deep reds from sulfur, electric blues from oxygen, rich greens from hydrogen—colors that complement modern interiors while providing genuine visual complexity. The Elephant's Trunk offers both dramatic focal presence and intricate structural detail that reveals itself over time. This is statement art grounded in scientific reality.
• The Thoughtful Gift Giver – Someone in your life speaks the language of stars. They quote Carl Sagan, track meteor showers, and understand that we're made of stardust. They deserve more than mass-produced astronomy posters. Give them Paweł Radomski's 30-hour labor of love—an image that required waiting for clear Polish nights, processing hundreds of narrowband frames, and artistic decisions about framing and color mapping. This is the gift that says "I understand what moves you" and proves it with museum-quality space art from an internationally recognized astrophotographer.
• The Inspiration Seeker – Your walls should tell you something worth remembering. When you look up from your desk, you want to see something that anchors you—something stable, as Radomski describes it. The Elephant's Trunk stands unshakable at 2,400 light-years distance, compressed by stellar radiation but refusing to collapse, instead birthing new stars inside its dense core. Let this cosmic refuge remind you that beauty emerges from pressure, that creation happens at boundaries where forces collide, and that stability exists even in turbulent seas of ionized gas.

Don't Just Admire the Cosmos—Bring It Home.

This is Paweł Radomski's 30-hour vision. This is IC 1396 in the iconic Hubble Palette. This is the Elephant's Trunk surrounded by sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen seas—and it's waiting to anchor your collection with something unshakable.

This is your chance to own a piece that is both scientifically fascinating and deeply emotive. Let the steadfast form of the Elephant's Trunk Nebula bring a sense of serene power to your home, office, or gallery.