NGC 281 – Pacman Nebula

NGC 281

The Pacman Nebula

A cosmic cloud

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Look through the cosmic cloud cataloged as NGC 281 and you might miss the stars of open cluster IC 1590. Still, formed within the nebula that cluster’s young, massive stars ultimately power the pervasive nebular glow. The eye-catching shapes looming in this portrait of NGC 281 are sculpted dusty columns and dense Bok globules seen in silhouette, eroded by intense, energetic winds and radiation from the hot cluster stars. If they survive long enough, the dusty structures could also be sites of future star formation. Playfully called the Pacman Nebula because of its overall shape, NGC 281 is about 10,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. This sharp composite image was made through narrow-band filters with the addition of true color stars. It combines emission from the nebula’s hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur atoms to synthesize red, green, and blue colors. The scene spans well over 80 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 281.

The Pacman Nebula in Cassiopeia

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Technical card

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ObjectNGC 281
Imaging telescopesCelestron Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph 11″
Imaging cameraQHY268M
Mount iOptron CEM60
GuidingGuidescope 130mm, ZWO ASI 290MM
FilterBaader 3.5 / 4nm f/2 Ultra-Highspeed-Filter-Set 50mm² (H-alpha / O-III / S-II), Baader R, G, B (50mm²)
AccessoriesBaader UFC, Baader UFC-Tilter,  Celestron Focus Motor for SCT
Integration60.5 hours, H-Alpha: 620×120″, OIII: 590×120″, SII: 515×120″, RGB each: 120×30″
Dates of recording19 nights between July 2022 and September 2022
AstroBinLink

NGC 281 PRINT & RAW DATA

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