Tony Hallas caught this absolutely stunning image of the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) in Cassiopeia with the SVX140T. This emission nebula rests approximately 9,500 light-years away from Earth and stretches about 48 light-years across. It is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm and is a star-forming region, that contains young stars, large dark dust lanes and Bok globules. The dark dust lanes spread across glowing clouds of hydrogen and appear to be sculpted by a massive star in the background, concealed by dark clouds.

Other Designations: Pacman Nebula, NGC 281, IC 11, Sharpless 184, Sh2-184, LBN 616, LBN 123.17-06.28

Details:

Telescope: SVX140T

Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro

Mount: Astro-Physics 900 GTO

Software: Adobe Photoshop, Auriga Imaging Registrar, CCDWare CCD Stack, Topaz Labs Topaz AI.

References:

Wikipedia contributors. (2024, June 11). NGC 281. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_281

Admin. (2021, June 7). Pacman Nebula (NGC 281): Facts, Location, Open Cluster – Constellation Guide. https://www.constellation-guide.com/pacman-nebula/

Salvatore Iovene - http://iovene.com/. (n.d.). NGC 281 RGB + HSO. AstroBin. https://www.astrobin.com/4l3om4/B/