NGC 281 is a bright emission nebula in constellation Cassiopeia. It is called the Pacman Nebula, because on smaller magnification it bears resemblance to this wellknown super-early video game hero. It is located in about 9200 LJ distance in the Perseus spiral arm, and is a rather often photographed object.
However, it nevertheless seems a bit underrated to me, since it has a lot of gadgets to offer: It contains open star cluster IC 1590, of which the brightest companion, multiple star HD 5005, is the ionizing source of NGC 281. It also contains loads of Bok globules and pillar-shaped dust structures. Last but not least, it is dominated by this nicely textured elongated dark nebula in front of it, which - in combination with the emission nebula - looks to me like the pupil of a reptile's eye. Maybe even like that of
Sauron. Which is the reason for my image orientation, and maybe for my attempt to get the colors more pronounced than i usually do.
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