NGC 281 (Sh2-184, Packman Nebula)

NGC 281 (Sh2-184, Packman Nebula) in Cassiopeia

© Velimir Popov & Emil Ivanov 2020

Size: 1800 px

NGC 281 (also catalogued IC 11, Ced 3, LBN 616, Sh 2-184, or Pacman Nebula) is an H II region in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with the open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star HD 5005 of spectral class B 1. It collectively forms Sh2-184, spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin. A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated to be 2.82±0.20 kpc. (9200 ly.) from the Solar System. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the popular video game character.

Image details:

Annotation

Center of field RA	00:52:46 (h:m:s)
Center of field DE	+56:40:31 (deg:m:s)
Size	73.2 x 51.7 (arcmin)
Pixel scale:	2.44 (arcsec/pixel)
Orientation:	Up is 270 degrees E of N

Charts and image details obtained from Astrometry.net

Optic(s):	ASA 12" Astrograph @ f/3.6 (Newton)
Mount:	ASA DDM85 Standard
Camera:	SBIG STL 11000 M
Filters:	Luminance, Red, Green, Blue, Astronomik filters
Dates/Times:	4.Aug.2011
Location:	IRIDA Observatory, BG, longitude: E 24 44' 18", latitude: N 41 41' 42"
Exp. Details:	L:6x10min;R:6x10 min, G:6x10 min, B:6x10 min; Bin 1 Total exp.time: 240min (4:00 hrs)
More details:	Dark and flat frames reduction
Processing:	PixInsight / PS

e-mail: info@irida-observatory.org