NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - wonderfuluniverse.de

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) from my own backyard and abroad

I have imaged NGC 281, also known as the Pacman Nebula, twice over the years. My first attempt dates back to 2007, during a holiday at the Emberger Alm in Austria, where I captured the object with my DSLR under beautifully dark alpine skies. The second imaging session followed in 2013 from my backyard in Krefeld, this time using my CCD camera and enhancing the dataset with H-alpha exposures to reveal the nebula’s faint outer structures and intricate emission filaments.

Scientifically, NGC 281 is a prominent H II region located in the constellation Cassiopeia, roughly 9,200 light-years away. It is part of the Perseus Spiral Arm and is tightly associated with the open cluster IC 1590, whose young, massive stars provide the intense ultraviolet radiation that ionizes the surrounding gas. The region is also famous for its Bok globules—dense, dark clouds of gas and dust that serve as potential sites of ongoing star formation.

The interplay of bright emission, dark obscuring clouds, and active stellar nurseries makes NGC 281 a rich target both visually and scientifically. My two datasets reflect this dual nature: the DSLR version capturing the broader nebula under pristine skies, and the CCD + H-alpha version highlighting its fine structural details and star-forming activity.

Data calibration, registration and the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows:

The images were taken with the following equipment:

Date 2013
Location: Krefeld, Germany
Telescope: 8″ GSO Newton
Focal length [mm]: 920
Focal ratio: 4
Mount: Losmandy G11
Camera: Moravian FW 8300
Filter: R:G:B:Hα
Exposure time [min]: 60:60:50:150
Resolution: 1.21″/px

For the 2007 data the calibration and registration was done with DeepSkyStacker and the final processing was done with PixInsight. The result was as follows: