Known formally as NGC 281, the Pacman Nebula is a high-energy stellar nursery located approximately 9,200 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia. Its iconic shape is sculpted by dense, opaque clouds of gas and dust called Bok globules, which act as cosmic silhouettes by blocking the light from the background to create the famous "mouth" of the character. At its heart lies IC 1590, a cluster of massive, newborn stars that flood the region with ultraviolet radiation. This energy ionizes the surrounding hydrogen gas, causing it to glow a deep red, while simultaneously exciting oxygen atoms near the core to emit a ghostly teal light. The result is a brilliant three-dimensional portrait of a collapsing molecular cloud being carved from the inside out by the very stars it helped create.
Scroll for information about the object, and how I processed the data
The Pacman Nebula
Fun Facts
- Named after Pacman, the iconic videogame character
- The vast majority of the nebula glows a deep, vibrant red. This is the fuel tank for future star birth
- The ghostly teal glow in the center marks the engine room, where stellar winds and radiation are at their most violent
- The largest star towards the top right of the frame is named "Shedar", the anchor of the famous "W" shape of the constellation Cassiopeia
- The other bright star to the top left is "Achrid" a Sun-like binary. A cosmic neighbour at only 18 light-years away
Processing Notes
Shot from the garden, thankfully this nebula was facing away from the glare of the streetlamps; taking an arc towards the fence line but back up allowing for a solid 4+ hours of observing.
During processing, the aim was to bring out the subtle team core of the nebula. Dominated by red light, this was a challenge but using Pixinsight 'masking' I was able to isolate the central area and bring out it's hidden secret exposing that lovely teal colour. Really happy with this one.