The Pac-Man Nebula
NGC 281 in Cassiopeia
is a diffuse emission nebula near Alpha Cassiopeiae, the giant, orange star Schedar.
Its prominent dark dust lane creates the mouth of the Pac-Man video game character, for which it is named.
The nebula features Bok globules- small, isolated, dark nebulae, which contain dense amounts of dust and gas.
Such concentrations are often followed by the formation of new stars. Discovered in 1883 by the great E. E. Barnard of Vanderbilt University,
NGC 281 (also IC 11 and Sh2-184), is 9,200 light-years away, with a span of 48 light-years.
This image was captured with SHO (Sulfur-Hydrogen-Oxygen) filters, mapped in 'false color' to the so-called Hubble Palette.
is a diffuse emission nebula near Alpha Cassiopeiae, the giant, orange star Schedar.
Its prominent dark dust lane creates the mouth of the Pac-Man video game character, for which it is named.
The nebula features Bok globules- small, isolated, dark nebulae, which contain dense amounts of dust and gas.
Such concentrations are often followed by the formation of new stars. Discovered in 1883 by the great E. E. Barnard of Vanderbilt University,
NGC 281 (also IC 11 and Sh2-184), is 9,200 light-years away, with a span of 48 light-years.
This image was captured with SHO (Sulfur-Hydrogen-Oxygen) filters, mapped in 'false color' to the so-called Hubble Palette.