NGC 281

Common Name: Pacman Nebula

Also Known as: IC 11, Sh2-184

Object Type: Emission Nebula

Constellation: Cassiopeia

Distance from Earth: 9,500 Light years

Apparent Magnitude: 7.4

Coordinates: RA 00H 52M 59.3S DEC 56deg 37min 19sec

Actual Size: 96 light years in diameter

Apparent Dimensions: 35 arc-minutes

Discovered by: Edward Emerson Barnard discovered the nebula in August 1883, describing it as "a large faint nebula, very diffuse".

Description: NGC 281 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm.
It collectively forms Sh2-184. NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.
The Pacman Nebula is a star-forming region that contains young stars, large dark dust lanes and Bok globules. Bok globules are small, dense dark nebulae packed with material from which new stars are formed.
The dark dust lane spreads unevenly across glowing clouds of hydrogen and its appearance suggests that it is being sculpted by a massive star in the background, concealed by the dark clouds.
NGC 281 is associated with IC 1590 (Collinder 8), a young open cluster with an estimated age of 3.5 million years.

Click Below Image(s) for Full Size:

The nebula region is visible in amateur telescopes from dark sky locations.
The nebula is in excellent position for both early to late fall observing

Platesolve

NGC 281 Nebula

Imaging Details

Imaging Details
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