NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023 (Bob Schiff)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas) · Contains: HD5005 · IC 1590 · LBN 616 · NGC 281 · Sh2-184

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NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

Powered byPixInsight

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

This image shows a cropped portion of NGC 281, also known as the Pacman Nebula due to its resemblance to the iconic video game character. The nebula is an emission nebula about 9,200 light years from Earth and is found in the constellation Cassiopeia. I cropped this photo to highlight some of the exciting activity taking place within the nebula.

NGC 281 is fueled by the young open star cluster IC 1590 forming in the center of the nebula. The central region of the nebula is being shaped by the young stars’ powerful stellar winds. The blue emission is from ionized oxygen gas that remains in the region. The outer perimeter of NGC 281 is comprised mostly of hydrogen gas where the IC 1590 winds have “blown” and “ionized” this molecular gas. The rust-orange is the light emitted by the ionized hydrogen.

The IC 1590 star cluster is estimated to be only 3.5 million years old. The bright multiple star system, HD 5005, is contained within IC 1590. HD 5005 appears as a bright star right of center and to the lower right of the “small” dark nebula - a Bok globule. Bok globules are dense clouds of dust and gas (dark nebulae) that can eventually accrete and coalesce into newly formed stars.

Around the rim of the nebula’s cavity are pillars of gas and dust. Some of these pillars are aglow in bright yellow and gold and are likely regions of new star formation, contributing new stars to the IC 1590 star cluster.

It is so exciting to image these active regions of star creation – from our own backyards, no less! We may be witnessing the birth of new suns and solar systems some of which may be like our own.

This is what makes astrophotography so much fun – being able to image some of the Universe’s wonders and sharing our photographs, knowledge, and excitement with others.

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
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	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
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Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	9228290
PixInsight job	PZQ8NATIRWYDBNYW6A5RHCN7R99U3M9T
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	00h53m03s.294
RA (top/left)	00h54m41s.263
RA (top/right)	00h51m42s.731
RA (bottom/right)	00h51m26s.840
RA (bottom/left)	00h54m23s.440

Dec (center)	+56°37′10″.21
Dec (top/left)	+56°45′23″.94
Dec (top/right)	+56°48′25″.38
Dec (bottom/right)	+56°28′51″.92
Dec (bottom/left)	+56°25′51″.91

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NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

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NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

NGC 281 (Pacman Nebula) - Cropped, Sept 2023

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